Two Simultaneously Published Illustrated Works on Devonshire
Jennings vs Fisher
The History of Devonshire
&
Devonshire & Cornwall Illustrated
Completely Revised and Updated - April 2025
Use the links here to go directly to desired pages:
Use following links to go directly to Tables and to Views.
Appendix I. Plates in History of Devonshire (Jennings) - Somers Cocks S.103.
Appendix II. Plates in Devonshire & Cornwall Illustrated (Fisher) - Somers Cocks S.107.
Appendix III. Publication History of the octavo Parts issues of History of Devonshire.
Appendix IV. Publication History of the quarto Parts issues of History of Devonshire.
Appendix V. Publication History of of the quarto Parts issues of Devonshire and Cornwall Illustrated.
Appendix VI. Letter from Rev Moore to Rev Oliver.
Appendix VII. Dedications.
a. Plates in History of Devonshire with dedication.
b. Plates in Devonshire & Cornwall Illustrated with dedication.
c. Plates in both History of Devonshire and Devonshire & Cornwall Illustrated with dedication.
Appendix VIII. Cornwall plates in Devonshire & Cornwall Illustrated (Fisher).
Appendix IX. Archives with copies of History of Devonshire and Devonshire & Cornwall Illustrated.
List of Illustrations, with Select Bibliography and Disclaimer.
1. Introduction
There is not, perhaps, a single
county in the British Islands more replete with picturesque and romantic
features, antiquarian remains, geological riches, and geographical and maritime
relations, than Devonshire.[1]
Hence, Devon has never suffered from lack of interest in its natural beauty and
its architectural heritage. Somers Cocks[2]
lists some 229 illustrated books and over 3500 individual prints published in
works before 1870. However, on exactly the same day in 1829 two works
illustrating the history and topography of the county of Devon were published.
Thomas Moore’s History of Devonshire (Fig.
1) published by Robert Jennings appeared at booksellers and publisher’s
distributors at precisely the same moment that Henry Fisher’s publication Devonshire and Cornwall Illustrated was
made available to the public.
At the beginning of the nineteenth
century two new printing technologies were available, enabling scenic views to
be prepared more quickly and more efficiently and enabling longer print runs.
Given this background it is not so surprising to find two vaguely similar works
appearing in the same year; Somers Cocks lists no less than six illustrated
works on the county for 1829. Given cheaper prints, not only were the middle
and academic classes able to buy more books for their shillings but the wider
range of affordable books meant that there were more potential customers as a
whole. And there was a public eager to receive the latest books from London
through their local distributor.
However, illustrated works,
especially with nearly 100 illustrations as these two books would have, were
still expensive. The other illustrated books listed for that year had only
between 2 and 14 views. To produce a
work with 94 engravings that would cost between 18 shillings (Fisher) or £2 10s
(Jennings) when finished was an impressive undertaking but these publications,
both sold in monthly Parts or Numbers
at just 1s. a monthly instalment suddenly became very affordable.
Besides opting to publish in parts,
and copiously illustrating their volumes with the same number of engravings,
these two publishers had also chosen to use the same technology that had only
just appeared – steel plate engraving (Fig. 2).
Funding would nevertheless be a
problem and patronage of some sort would be welcome in addition to gaining the
maximum number of possible subscribers; subscriptions would generate the bulk
of the income, but by finding sponsors who might pay to have their estates
included could increase income by sale of individual plates to wealthy
landowners - a tradition started almost a century and a half previously.
The following is an attempt to compare and
contrast the publishing histories of these two, on the face of it very similar,
publications. One publisher would be perfectly happy with his publication and
his authors; while the other would increasingly frustrate and be frustrated by his
author and, perhaps, publish a work which was only half finished.
The principal aim of this work is to
analyse the publishing history of each work: Henry Fisher´s volume on
Devonshire and Cornwall is fairly straight forward but, for the first time,
detailed lists can be found of exactly what was published in each of the 36
Parts Issues which most people today find as a single bound volume.
On the other hand, Jenning´s
publication of the Rev. Thomas Moore´s text on the History of Devonshire
was more protracted and confused, bound volumes of this work often containing
varying numbers of pages and, to some extent it is still not absolutely clear
how many Parts were published: however, here too, detailed lists can be found
of exactly what was published in each of the 50 known Parts Issues which most
people today find as a work bound in two or three volumes.
After short introductions to the printing techniques
available and popular systems for funding such large enterprises, the focus
will shift onto the printers and publishers, the artists and engravers behind
these two mammoth enterprises.
Thanks and
Acknowledgements
Over the years I have managed to
purchase a number of copies of the original parts issue of each of Fisher and
Jennings´ publications and was surprised to find they had both appeared on the
same day and both as serial publications. This monograph is an attempt to
present my research regarding the two works in question.
Firstly, I have to say that much
general information has been gleaned from Wikipedia, which I support (also
financially) as a first port of call. I am restricted somewhat by living and
working in Germany and rely a lot on my own small collection of books and the
internet. However, I think you will find I have supplemented this with a lot of
further information not available on the internet.
Secondly, and most importantly, Ian
Maxted whose own numerous blogs encouraged me to begin adding my various Devon
texts onto the net. For anyone interested in the printing trade in Devon in
whatever aspect should consult his blog pages. I approached Ian with a request
for information and he was kind enough to inspect the copies of Moore at the
new Devon Heritage Centre and much of the information pertaining to the parts
issues is a result of his input. He visited the DHC a number of times and
discovered the letter from Moore to Oliver.
I would also like to mention James
M'Kenzie-Hall who provided copies of his own work on Henry Fisher which has
greatly expanded the scope of this particular piece of work. He was kind enough
to forward both his doctoral thesis and a very informative article. He also
forwarded the letter from the agent, Gibson, to Sir Thomas Acland (also held at
DHC). My thanks to him.
Addenda to
Second Edition
Since the publication of the first edition, two more part issues of
these works have come to light. I was fortunate to acquire both an almost
complete set of Henry Fisher´s 36-Part Devonshire and Cornwall Illustrated. It is now possible to complete the
publication history and replace the projected version in the earlier work.
Additionally, a near complete set of the quarto Parts issue of History of Devonshire has enabled me to report the contents of what
were very likely the last three issues of this series, which was published in
parallel to the octavo issue found in the first edition.
Kit Batten
Stuttgart,
September 2020 and September 2024.
[1] Devonshire and Cornwall Illustrated opening page (5) to
Devonshire.
[2] See Somers Cocks Catalogue and Guide (1977) entries S.101 to S.107. Moore, i.e. Jennings is S.103 and Fisher is S.107.
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