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Loose Sketches: An Eastern Adventure, Etc. (1894)
Loose Sketches An Eastern Adventure Etc - 1894 Author:William Makepeace Thackeray LOOSE SKETCHES AN EASTERN ADVENTURE, ETC. - CONTENTS - PAGE INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii LOOSE S KETCHE S Reading a Poem. Part I. . . . . . . . . . . I Reading a Poem. Part I-I. . . . . . . . . . . 21 A St. Philips Day at Paris . . . . . . . . . 35 A St. Philips Day at Paris continued . . . . . . 55 Shrove Tuesday in Paris . .... more » . . . . . . . . . 63 Rolandseck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 AN EASTER A N D VENTUR O E F THE FAT C ONTRIBUTOR 93 . APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 INTRODUCTION. F the four Loose Sketches written by Thackeray for The Britannia in 1841, three are entirely unknown to readers of the present generation, and the fourth scarcely known beyond the limited circle of the Sette of Odd Volumes. That these writings should have escaped the researches of biographer and bibliographer, for so long a period, seems almost incredible. But such is the fact for, while numerous magazine and newspaper articles were being recovered from other hiding-places, The Britannia obstinately refused to surrender its secret. It remained, accordingly, a sealed book, till a happy chance occasioned the discovery of one of these sketches and this ultimately led to the finding of thk rest. In 1891, Mr. C. P. ohnson w as informed of the existence of Reading a Poem the first of these l Mr. Johnson, in his introduction to Reading a Poem, relates that Owing to the remarkable memory of a friend, old enough to have read this sketch on its appearance half a century ago, and young enough to have remembered when and where he had read it, I have been able to rescue from oblivion a characleristic Sketch by the great Master of the Art of Fiction . . . . J3 ... Vlll sketches, by a friend who remembered having read it when it originally appeared fifty years previously. Mr. Johnson thereupon printed a private issue for the Sette of Odd Volumes. How he overlooked the existence of the other papers, with the key to their discovery in his possession, is not the least remarkable circumstance in the story of The Britannia. It was not, in fact, till towards the end of I 893-more than two years later-that the remaining sketches were brought to light. From 1835 to 1840 Thackeray was a frequent contributor to Frasers Magazine. Between October of the latter year and the following June, his contributions were discontinued, the interval being occupied with the Second Funeral of Napoleon, which appeared early in r 841, followed shortly by the Comic Tales and Sketches, and lastly the papers for The Britannia. His connection with Fraser was then resumed and continued regularly during the year the Great Hoggarty Diamond appearing in the September to December months. The Britannia, a Weekly Journal commence d its existence in 1839 and continued till 1856, when it was incorporated with John Bull. The number for January g, 1841 contains a very brief review, accompanied by copious extracts, of the Second Funeral of He further says that Reading a Poem began its appearance in the pages of The Britannia on the 1st May, 1841,. . . . under the title of Loose Sketches, which was probably intended to apply to a series of similar tales. It will be seen that Mr. Johnson was on the right track for further discovery, though he failed to follow it up. Napoleon. It has been suggested that this review was written by Thackeray himself, the satirical allusion to Lytton in the concluding paragraph favouring this view...« less