Today I was given the opportunity to look at the Annancy Stories by Pamela Colman Smith. I was more than surprised when looking through this book. A lot of the illustrations caught my attention immediately and some so much that I just stared at the photo for an arguably long time. It was obvious that the person that wrote the stories was just as much invested as the person illustrating the images… and in this case it was the same person. Pamela Colman Smith both wrote and illustrated the Annancy Stories and the beautiful stories accompanied by illustrations created of equal passion. This piece of work is Jamaican Folklore, with already a unique genre, Pamela Colman Smith aids in the uniqueness of her work caricature-like illustrations which are not commonly seen in the Victorian Era. Specifically, to note about the caricature-like illustrations; Pamela Colman Smith derives the Anansi Jamaican Trickster Folklore Figure and implements it in her collection of stories...
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Description
Students in Lorraine Janzen Kooistra's English Capstone Seminar at Ryerson University in Toronto in F2020 aim to make a virtue of pandemic necessity by engaging collaboratively and critically with the digital surrogates of a wide variety of Victorian illustrated books published between 1843 and 1899.
Using the interpretive model of image/text/context for both synchronic and diachronic analyses, and drawing on a range of digital tools, this course aims to understand the past through the present and the present through the past.
Our study begins with Charles Dickens's iconic Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, illustrated by John Leech (1843), then turns to two examples of poetry and illustration: Alfred Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite artists William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1857); and Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market," illustrated by her brother, Dante Gabriel (1862). These mid-century works will provide the foundation for our study of the illustrated books that proliferated at the end of the century. We'll analyze a variety of fin-de-siècle genres and styles, starting with Arthur Conan Doyle's popular detective stories, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, illustrated by Sydney Paget (1892). Next up is Salome: A Tragedy in One Act, Oscar Wilde's censored play based on a biblical story, which was infamously "embroidered" by decadent artist Aubrey Beardsley (1894). Fairy tales and fantasies aimed at adult audiences allowed counter-cultural writers and artists to protest existing norms and imagine other worlds; our examples are Laurence Housman's self-illustrated collection, The House of Joy (1895) and Clemence Housman's gothic novella The Were-Wolf, with wood-engraved illustrations by the author after her brother Laurence's designs (1896). The Annancy Stories, a self-illustrated collection of folktales by Pamela Colman Smith, is the first-known publication featuring this Jamaican trickster figure (1899). Students examine the final work, A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel (2019), for evidence of the legacy of Victorian illustrated books today.
The following texts are available in COVE (see D2L for the other digital surrogates):
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas (1843): A COVE Studio Text for class annotation
Clemence Housman, The Were-Wolf (1896): A COVE Annotated Edition
Christina G. Rossetti, Goblin Market (1862): A COVE Annotated Edition
Alfred Tennyson: The Lady of Shalott (1857): A COVE Studio text for class annotation
Victorian illustrated books resulted from the collaboration of a number of social agents, including authors, artists, engravers, editors, publishers, and readers. Using the COVE toolset, students and instructor work collaboratively to build resources that critically curate Victorian illustrated books in cultural contexts ranging from the nineteenth century to the present.
We will use the COVE annotation tool to hone our close reading and editorial skills. In COVE Studio, each student will provide TWO TEXTUAL ANNOTATIONS, one on "content," one on "craft," for Dickens's A Christmas Carol and Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott."
We will use the Gallery Image tool to provide bibliographic and contextual information and iconographic commentary and analysis on illustrations, and to associate these with events in the Timeline and places in the Map.
We will use the Gallery Exhibition tool to critically curate illustrated books in cultural contexts, situating works synchronically, within their originating moment of production and reception, and diachronically, in terms of their ongoing moments of production and reception.
We will use the COVE Timeline tool to provide information about historical events relevant to Victorian illustrated books, both at the time of their first publication, and in their ongoing re-production over time and across media.
We will use the COVE Map tool to associate places relevant to illustrated books and their makers and the cultural contexts that we showcase in the Gallery and on the Timeline.
Galleries, Timelines, and Maps
In today's class while in our smaller groups I got the opportunity to look into the illistrative novel "The Were-Wolf" by Clemence Housman published in 1896. I was suprised when we were doing our research by the feminist tones presented and even that the novel was written by a woman. When previously looking into victorian texts in my previous years I have noticed an overwhelming oppression of women through the roles that women placed. While looking further into the text I was shocked to learn that while Clemence Housmans brother did the illustrations, she herself did the wood engravings throughout the text and wrote the story . I was reminded of the required reading for class "Two texts, two lands, two looks" In which Lorraine Janzen Kooistra discusses the Bitexuality theory. From that texts I learned that traditionally words are looked at as masculine and illustrations feminine. I thought about this when looking into "The Were-Wolf" in which the words are actually...
moreThis week in class, my group and I were tasked with creating a timeline entry for Clemence Housman’s The Were-Wolf, a gothic text situated around a monstrous female that terrorizes a remote village. I had never heard of the book before, so I was unaware of the surprisingly progressive feminist narrative, but I was even more astounded by the fact that not only had Clemence written it but she also had a significant role in illustrating the novel. However, this wasn’t always the case, as it was originally published in the Atalanta literary magazine with illustrations by Everard Hopkins. I found his artwork to be more or less along the lines of what I expected Victorian illustrations of the time were, but it was Clemence’s engravings that stood out to me for their failure to conform to the gender conventions I had seen in many other Victorian texts. Her...
moreThe concept of bitextuality—specifically the relationship between text and illustration being similar to masculinity, femininity and the reception by the audience—is intriguing to think about. In the explanation of the text being the male, domineering role; capable of standing on its own compared to the illustrations being feminine (incapable of independence and needing the text) is what stuck out to me. Going further on that notion, it could go two ways. That might be why people often neglect / disregard illustrations within books, it echoes how women are disregarded in the patriarchal system and therefore seen as not providing much to the “intellectual’s table”.
However, what it also implies is illustration’s older translation of being able to illuminate and shed light on various things discussed. Wherein the text provides the reader the means to take in what’s being written, the “femininity” of...
moreOne of the concepts that we discussed in today's class was the relationship between text and image to create/produce meaning. More specifically, bitextual theory, or the way in which the "text and image engage in terms of shared subject and cultural context... and furthermore, the way in which the reader engages with the image and text to create meaning..." (Kooistra). Personally, when I read, I tend to focus on the text rather than the images because I assume that's where the 'story' or meaning is. However, if a picture is especially striking, such as unique art styles or colours, it will intrigue me to create a story between the text and image that transcends just the text by trying to find nuances or allusions within the image. The most striking thing about the relationship between text and image is that these concepts are gendered. Text is masculine, whereas image is feminine. This gendered concept speaks to the idea that patriarchy invades even books. The...
moreThe most interesting part of the second week of the course for me is understanding the dynamic between the author and the illustrator in this time period. When we traditionally study the texts of the Victorian Era, the text is all that is looked at with significance. The idea that illustrations of this time period were essential to how readers in the Victorian Era understood these books has made me rethink my understanding of the Victorian texts I have previously studied, such as A Christmas Carol. The idea that specifically engaged me the most is the concept of the artist as a critic from the "Two texts, two hands, two looks" reading. This concept goes beyond seeing illustrations as a companion to the text, but as a piece in dialogue with the text, like a critic's work would be. This changes the way images are viewed within these Victorian texts, as it changes the understanding of artists and writers from collaborators to independent artists, with the illustrator...
moreFor today's class, my group was assigned to give an overview of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Though I have read some of Doyle's work before, I have never seen it in its original illustrated format. I found this to be particularly fascinating because the images work to bring the text to life, and - in my opinion - help solidify Sherlock Holmes as the iconic fictional character he continues to be today. The illustrator for Sherlock Holmes, Sidney Paget, crafted the artwork in the photomechanical half-tone contemporary sketch style that was a popular feature of 1890s illustrated books. Much of the artwork throughout this collection of stories utilizes the narratological theory of picture-text relation: Paget's illustrations are often repetitive, and work to solidify key features of the mystery genre. As such, many of the pictures I saw while looking through the book feature Holmes and Watson together, Holmes sitting alone, smoking a...
moreThe one thing I found most surprising and interesting when discussing illustration through history is the different mediums used. I never thought about different mediums of books and illustrations ever being a thing but, after researching with my group, I found the illustrations of the book we were looking at were wood carvings. I thought that was really cool. I, personally, never paid much attention to illustrations in a book I was reading unless the illustrations were relevant to the story (like a graphic novel or, when I was a kid, the geronimo stilton books). I never really read many books with illustrations to begin with or I just wouldn't notice them. The discissions about illustrations during class did remind me of another course I took on Children's Literature, though. It reminded me of when we discussed, in that class, the relationship between texts and their illustrations and how the illustrations can enhance the text, contradict the text, or be a...
moreThis week my group was tasked with creating a general summary for House of Joy by Laurence Houseman. Truthfully, this task was a struggle for me at first as I am still not fully comfortable with using Cove or locating where resources are in the D2L page. However, once I began working on the task, I actually found the book and its illustrations very intriguing. I was surprised to learn that the House of Joy was a book of adult fairytales as at the time, fairytales were considered taboo for young children. I also found it quite impressive that Laurence Houseman not only authored the book but also created the illustrations as well. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this text as they are very detailed. Dr. Kooistra mentioned that the illustrations were originally done in pen and ink which explains its intricate detail. Housman's illustrations are so enjoyable to look at as to me, they really remind me of gothic style illustrations. Some of the illustrations are...
moreEntering into the second week of the course I was excited to begin studying the content and analyzing these victorian era illustrations. Following the lecture and the course readings for this week there were a number of things that I found to be both incredibly interesting and challenging. Firstly with regard to the course readings, I found it difficult to fully understand the male/female relationship between text and image as it was described in the article. The comparison between sexuality and illustrated books was one that I was not fully prepared for heading into this module. However, as I worked through the readings I will say that I found the idea to be incredibly fascinating particularly the part about bitextual relationships within text. Furthermore many of the confusing aspects of the readings were made clear during the lecture portion of today's class. I look forward to exploring more theories that offer new perspectives on the relationship...
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Individual Entries
The area of Highgate, found in North London, is where the London Diocesan Penitentiary was located. This establishment was concerned with the reformation and reintegration of fallen women, and attempted to do so through the teaching of religious principles and daily domestic tasks. Christina Rosetti, the author of the influential poem, "Goblin Market", volunteered at this penitentiary from 1859 to 1870. As a woman who possessed deeply religious convictions herself, much of Rosetti's time spent within this area during her volunteering days can be read into "Goblin Market".
Boscombe Valley is a ficticous country district close to Ross-on-Wye on the southwestern side of Herefordshire, England that serves as the setting for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It is a rural area with two farms and estates owned by John Turner. Boscombe Valley is the first rural setting to be featured in a Sherlock Holmes story, providing an opportunity for Conan Doyle to demonstrate Holmes' sleuthing abilities outside of London and without the assistance of local law-enforcement.
Situated in 30 Hungerford Stairs, just off the Strand in London, Warren's Blacking Factory was one of the many unethical factories during the Victorian period in England which exploited young children for extremely low wages and cruel conditions. During the Victorian era, it was not uncommon for children of the working class to work for 16 hours a day in factories with their families. For example, Charles Dickens, the influential writer of the Victorian era, was employed under Warren's Blacking Factory at the age of 12 where he labeled jars of boot polish. Dickens himself has been vocal about the haunting expreience of working under this factory, which is reflected in his writing. In fact, A Christmas Carol was written due to Dickens' distaste towards the living conditions of poverty, especially when it came to child poverty. Therefore,...
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