Back in May when we were given the option for which topic to pick for ENG 910, Illustrated Books stood out for because of its focus on Victorian literature and that period of time. From high school up through university, I have read various pieces from this era so exploring a new aspect of Victorian literature struck me with potential. Since this is a capstone seminar, a lot of work from this course will be collaborative and it was interesting to hear the professor explain how Victorian illustrated books are seen as collaborative projects as well. Often times when we look at literature we think of the writer, the audience and the context surrounding the piece. When it is adapted into a visual piece, now we must also think of the artist creating the images and think about the thought process behind their work which often goes unrecognized. I look forward to learning more this semester about this topic and sharing ideas with my peers as we adapt to our new learning environment...
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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
What has intrigued and surprised me most about this course so far is the existence of an online database like COVE itself. It seems brilliant to me that that the minds behind the body scholarship on a pre-digital era have fully embraced the digital in this way. To me, COVE demonstrates not only the importance of digital archives for the way it makes the obscure accessible (albeit for a small fee), but also for the way it harnesses the tools of the internet to enhance the scholarship being done. The technological affordances of a platform like COVE allow for the things like the critical annotations within the texts, gallery exhibits, maps, and timelines. Diving into these tools and learning how to make the most out of COVE is something I am most looking forward to in this course. As I said in my introduction on Zoom today, I’m most interested in establishing a sort of continuity between the visual cultures of the present and Modernist eras that I have previously studied...
moreWhile I have taken courses before which analyze many of these Victorian-period stories, this is the first course I have taken dedicated to interpreting and examining illustrations. I don’t have a particularly large knowledge of art history as an English major, so I am excited to learn about these contextual connections and hopefully have a more comprehensive perspective on these stories and historical multimedia. Although I’ve read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol before and seen many of the film and television iterations, I have yet to study it in an academic sense. I have never read the graphic novel version before either. That being said, I’m particularly interested to see how this visual medium carries over the interplay between text and image. As an avid graphic novel and comic reader, I know that powerful visual elements can be incredibly impactful for storytelling and can completely alter one’s understanding of a text. I’m certain that...
moreHonestly speaking, as I've ben enrolled in classes that delve into or touch on the Victorian period and its significant pieces, it usually ends up as either a hit or miss for me (interest-wise). But the fact that this course will be using both texts and the images accompanied with them from the time of it being published is a unique spin. I never heard of COVE and it’s intimidating (as I have no clue what I’m doing, still getting used to this as a whole—Zoom included). But I think it’s going to be interesting in having a bunch of students come together to create interactive exhibits.
Artistically speaking, I’m very curious in the numerous art styles of people within the Victorian period. It would be cool to compare how things have evolved or remained the same from the illustrations for stories today and back then. Like whether or not the things we don’t bat an eye to or consider it as part of “the norm” (nudity and eroticism, gore etc) would have appeared in a similar...
moreMy initial thought towards the course after our introductory class was interest. I've taken previous classes in the Victorian period but while those were focused on the text at the time, I haven't studied many aspects of the illustrations. I am looking forward to discussing imagery and illustrations though. I've taken a class in the past where we focused on illustrations and paintings and was interested in how to critically view an image and I'm looking forward to doing that in this class as well. While many of these texts are new to me, I did recognize a few. Namely Goblin Market from a previous class I took on nineteenth-century literature where we discussed the poem and its major themes. I'm looking forward to diving into the use of the images in relation to the text as well as the images on their own. The other text I am familiar with is "A Christmas Carol" but that's mainly because I love the movie adaptations.
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moreMy initial thoughts going into this final Capstone seminar were conflicted. I was excited to participate in a more interactive and discussion oriented style of learning but was anxious about the content of the course. Victorian era literature is a genre that has come up often during my four and a bit years at Ryerson, to mixed reception. Oftentimes I found the genre to be interesting as the time period offers a unique perspective and voice in literature. Other times however, I find it can be a little indulgent and bland. Thankfully following this initial lecture I am hopeful that this course will explore some of the best victorian era literature has to offer. The focus on imagery is something that I find very interesting as the Victorian period is one of the most visually unique and striking historical periods. I’m curious to see how that translates into illustration. Using images and text to understand the value of something both as a piece of art...
moreI don't know much about Victorian literature, but when I have been exposed to it I have always found it very interesting. I think I will enjoy it even more with illustrations, and having the opportunity to see how words and images work together to create a larger meaning. I am a little nervous because I feel as though a lot of my peers are already familiar with some of the texts we are readings, while they are all very new to me! The most familiar text was "A Christmas Carol", but only because I've watched Scrooged (starring Bill Murray) 100 times. I had also never heard of "Goblin Market" before. I got the opportunity to read it while browsing COVE and I am looking forward to critically examining the text and images as a class.
I also think it is very interesting that Victorian illustrated books were created for adults, while the majority of picture books today are considered for children. Although some picture book types, such as comic books and graphic...
moreIt was great to meet my fellow seminar peers this morning during our first class. I am excited to study the content of this course and utilize Dr. Kooistra's extensive knowledge of the Victorian era. I have a bit of background knowledge of the period's texts and history from my 19th-century literature class, which inspired me to choose this seminar. I was surprised to learn that Victorian picture books were actually intended for an adult audience instead of a child audience. I just took Children's Literature with Naomi Hamer and I'm excited to examine picture books from a different lens. The Victorian period is such an interesting point in history and I am super excited to see illustrative versions of such classic and beloved texts. In particular, I have always loved Rossetti's Goblin Market and I am looking forward to seeing the illustrative version and how that compares to my personal visuals when reading the poem. This course is a great reprieve from the heavy readings of other...
moreAfter the introductory class today, I am quite interested in focusing on artistic representations of Victorian literature. I have taken a few courses that look at the intersection between literature and visual media, including Studies in Visual Culture and Studies in Word and Image, in addition to the small portions other courses that focused on art, such as Romanticism. Two texts in particular that I am interested in looking at in this way are A Christmas Carol and "Goblin Market." A Christmas Carol stands as one of the most adapted works of literature, so I am very interested to see how artistic representations from the Victorian Era are different or similar to modern representations, including the graphic novel that is assigned. Like many others, "Goblin Market" is a poem that I had previously studied, with illustrations of the poem being a brief portion of the lecture. I am looking forward to revisiting the poem, and having a larger focus on its...
moreIt was so nice being back with my fellow English peers. It was nice to hear what everyone was excited about for this coming semester. I think what intrugued me the most in our first zoom meeting was goingover hwat the semster is going to be like. With so much uncertainty, it was nice to have some concrete information accompanied by a solid plan for the semester going forward - with many ,thanks to Professor Janzen for the organization. In regard to the works that we will be looking at, I am specifcially excited to go through The Christmas Carol works listed in our schedule. I have had Professor Janzen already, and with that being said, I am also excited to see how she uses her teaching style to look into the works that are picked out for us this semester. It is always a pleasure going back and forth with her and the class, looking into the works.
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Individual Entries
I really enjoyed the interpretative process of curating the numerous editions and renditions of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market. It really makes me realize that the process of judging a book by its cover is just as important as getting textual information from the work itself. At the same time, it also made me realize that modern-day interpretations really does influence and impose itself on Victorian texts and what they can or can’t handle.The process itself was fun as it made behave to actively look at the details of the illustrations that are often overlooked or skipped over.
I was honestly surprised that Goblin Market had been illustrated for children more so than the pornographic audience—not because of its sex and violence, but at the general idea that children would also found goblin Market interesting to read about. It makes me curious as to what their interpretations of the text would be if there was no illustrations to it—focusing...
moreIn general, I would say that the curation process was much more difficult than I anticipated in order to fill out the information needed for the Rossetti exhibit. Maybe it was because my group was curating the more modern adaptations, which I would think would be easier, but there was a significant lack of resources online. As I was specifically curating the work of Lauren Wright Douglas, this may have been because Naiad Press was no longer still a publishing company which definitely contributes to the lack of information online. The PDF document was definitely the most helpful for bridging any gaps in what I needed to find for illustration or publishers, because the rest of the time it felt like I was scouring the internet for any scraps.
The diachronic model of looking at this poem was very enlightening for examining how the nature of the work changed over time, demonstrating how Rossetti’s sensuous...
moreEvery time Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market comes up in discussion, I typically feel that I have a good understanding of what kind of conversation will follow after. In today’s class however, my group focused on the contemporary renditions of the poem, which led my research to Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon’s theatre adaptation of the same name, Goblin Market. The most impactful thing I realized about theatre in my research is that the interpretation of a production is highly dependent on the time and place of the performance. Pen and Harmon’s production for example, opened 1985 off-Broadway in New York City during the height of the AIDs pandemic. Pen described the ideology of the play through a contemporary lens, bringing forward a modern perspective on the context of Rossetti’s...
moreThis was an interesting class. It was fun to see how Goblin Market was reprinted and redesigned to fit so many formats and appeal to such various audiences. I've read this poem in a previous class before and would not have expected it to be curated in a way to appeal to children. The fact that this story was redesigned through the years to go from something for children to read to being a part of Playboy is such an interesting and unexpected concept. With a few changes of the images, even if the text was printed in full and remained unchanged, this poem was now an appropriate children's tale. This was something I did not expect since the poem is so explicit and does have a lot of erotic references in the words. It was cool to look at how big an influence on the story these illustrations hold to how this poem is recieved. As well, I've also explored the exhibit that was presented to us today in previous courses but it was fun to look exclusively at this one piece by Rosetti...
moreDavid R. Godine, a fine press publisher in Boston, published George Gershinowitz's illustrated edition of Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market in 1981.
Analyzing the various different illustrations in different printings of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market was really interesting this week. I won’t lie, I’ve read Goblin Market in the past, and it was not one of my favourite works, but looking at so many different versions of the poem with incredibly different artwork really enhanced my understanding of the poem and helped me see it in a new light. I was particularly interested in the way Playboy Magazine’s version of the poem completely changed where the emphasis lied within the poem. By including erotic paintings by Craft, who specialized in fantastical art, the story was turned into an erotic, almost pornographic tale, turning many of the scenes in the poems into sexual acts. When I first read Goblin Market, this was nothing like the version of the scenes I had in mind, so it was really interesting to see how by shaping the way these scenes are visualized, the meaning behind the text can be...
moreOne thing that stuck out to me in curating the various editions of Goblin Market was the dearth of paratextual info in earlier editions compared with editions from the mid-20th century onwards. I assume this reflects the material conditions of the Victorian period and early 20th century - either the technical or economic limitations preventing the inclusion of more comprehensive info regarding the date of publication, location of publication, etc. It made me wonder when exactly thorough paratext to open a book was commonplace in publishing. With respect to the particular edition I curated (the 1994 Gramery Books reprint of Florence Harrison's illustrated collection of Rossetti's poems), I found the context of its publication interesting - that it was published in the heyday of a renewed shcolarly interest in Rossetti's poetry and the illustrations which accompanied it, and that it provided an opportuntiy to collect/study such work in print at a time when original pressings...
moreDiachronic analysis enables the critic to focus on the physical material of the text instead of solely its body. In looking at the various editions of Goblin Market through the years, I found myself longing to hold the physical texts. There's an extra element of understanding in the materiality of an edition. I wanted to feel the binding, look at the paper quality and the ink used. Seeing the wear and aging on an individual book can often reveal the purpose and audience of the text.
The version of Goblin Market that I researched was the Collins' Clear-Type Press version pocketbook. The book itself is very petite and clearly designed for travel. This was interesting as none of the other books seemed to have this purpose in mind. Books are usually promoted within a strictly collectable realm. Another thing that intrigued me about the book was its lack of information on the illustrator. In fact, the illustrator is unnamed. I have another...
moreThis week's reading was truly shocking because of The Goblin Market's versatility in both interpretation, and in audience. While reading the poem initially, I immediately noticed the sexual connotations of the poem especially with the help of Professor Kooistra's annotations. However, I assumed because the poem was so sensual and sexual in both description and illustrations (the ones I had seen from previous readings of the poem) I never thought this poem could be targetted towards a young audience. However, after taking a closer look at Arthur Rackhams's illustrations, I noticed how his style of art focused immensley on children's innocent which to me was depicted by the soft pale faces of the characters and their rosy cheeks. The goblins were also extermely similar to animal like creatures in other children's books with a hint of fairy tale inspired drawings. Although the poem and its various illustartions prove its versetality in its analysis especially when it comes to...
moreBy curating Carl Mueller’s front cover and back cover illustrations for Helen McCloy’s The Goblin Market (1943), I was able to learn more about the publishing company (Dell) and how publishing companies operated in the 1940s. From my research, I was able to discover the rise of mass-marketing and pocket-sized novels. Though I was not previously familiar with Dell Publishing Company, I knew of their competitor Pocket Books. Looking at Helen McCloy’s rendition of The Goblin Market did not affect my interpretation of Christina’s Rossetti’s poem. McCloy’s spin-off paid homage to the original work but it didn’t attempt to change the narrative or provide an alternate meaning. I think McCloy did well to respect the authenticity of Rossetti’s poem while ensuring it was consumable in a more modern format. I especially appreciate the nod she gave Rossetti by having one of her character’s die...
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