Publisher's Synopsis
The Victorian publisher, William Tinsley, though famous by association with many high-profile novelists of the day, remains an enigmatic figure. Born in 1831, the son of a Hertfordshire gamekeeper, he had almost no formal schooling. Growing up he spent much time at the Toll House, run by his uncle on the road from St Albans to London, his strongly felt need for education fed by talk with his uncle, daily conversation and gossip with travellers, and regular access to newspapers. When just 21 he walked to London to make his fortune, comparing himself with Dick Whittington. By a series of happy chances, he and his brother were, only ten years after William's walk from his father's cottage, truly enjoying the fortune they had made, and were acknowledged by Dickens' publishers, Chapman & Hall, to be their main rival in novel-publishing. - - In this study Peter Newbolt offers a description of Tinsley's childhood, and explores the brothers' development and experiences in the London book trade. He traces the publisher's career, principally through his contact with authors such as G.A. Sala, Harrison Ainsworth, Wilkie Collins, Richard Jefferies, Sheridan Lefanu, George Meredith, and Thomas Hardy. There are also chapters on the firm's staff and Tinsleys' Magazine. This book tells of the bohemian world of the Tinsleys, the sudden death of the younger brother, Edward, and the domination of Mudie's and W.H. Smith's Circulating Libraries and the three-decker novel. - - Here for the first time, in an appendix to the study, Newbolt presents a painstakingly compiled checklist of books published by the Tinsley brothers.
