PG Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist, by

57 Books in Review
ment en feuilleton ou par tranches, les revues et la presse repr6sentant les principaux lieux de publication des fictions litt6raires. Entre I860 et 1870, six titres de
romans seulement sont mis en livres, tand~is que cette pratique devient plus
cour·ante après 1870 (quinze titres entre 1870 et 1880). D6jà au cours des
d6cennies 1850 et 1860, les frères Brousseau, de même que Cherrier (à Qu6bec),
d6montrent, certains comportements d'6diteur.
De 1880 à 1920, I'alphab6tisation devient courante, la presse de masse
apparait (La Presse), les bibliothèques dites publiques 6mergent (Fraser, Westmount, Montr6al, Saint-Sulpice), I'importance d~uCanadiana d~evient manifeste
(Gagnon, Dionne). Au cours de ces ann6es, la librairie apparait souvent comme un
commerce int6gr6 aux m6tiers du livre, de l'imprimerie à la publication en passant par la reliure, la papeterie et la vente. Lamonde insiste sur la tendance
toutefois à 'l'autonomisation' des grandes fonctions dl'imprimerie, d~elibrairie,
puis d'6dition (p. 94). On fait de l'6dition chez Beauchemin et à l'Action frangaise.
Ce quatr·ième chapitre est très important: il sert d'introduction à une v6ritable
histoire de l'6dition au Qu6bec.
Comme il est coutume chez Lamonde, nous retrouvons en seconde partie de
l'ouvrage les tableaux, graphiques, bibliographies, listes de catalogues de
librairies, index des commerces de librairies, inventaire chronologique des catalogues imprimes de la librairie montr6alaise (18 16-1970).
Cette histoire de la librairie et de l'6dition en une centaine de pages apparait
comme une synthèse qui aurait pu être davantage d6ve·lopp6e. Par exemple, les
catalogues de librairies ne regoivent qu'un tr·aitement de quatre lignes pour cing
catalogues (p. 41) et de cinq lignes pour douze catalogues (p. 60). Le quatrième
chapitre (1889-1920) aurait exig6 un d6veloppement beaucoup plus considérable
en raison de l'importance de la p6riode en librairie et en 6dition.
Nous avons d6jà noté 1'6quivoque concernant Julie Fabre (p.40). A la page 72,
on fait mention de la maison Ronet, de Fennimore Cooper, et de Chiniguy, au lieu
de Roret, Fenimore, et Chiniquy.
Le volume de Lamonde est un volume très important à la fois par la synthèse
offerte et par les données collig6es en deuxième partie. Il constitue une 6tape dans
l'6volution de la recherche de ce champ d'int6rêt. Le plus beau souhait que l'on
puisse faire à son sujet, c'est qu'il devienne d6pass6 le plus rapidement possible.
MARCEL LAJEUNESSE
Universitéd~eMlontrial
Eileen McIlvaine, Louise S. Sherby, and James H. Heineman. P.G.
Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliographyand Checklist. New York:
James H. Heineman, Inc.; Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1990. xlix, [I], 489, 151
pp.; $I35.oo U.s. (cloth). IsBN 0-87008-I25-x.
P.G. Wodehouse lived~a long life (1881-1975) during which he employed himself
by churning out a vast quantity of amusing stories, whimsical novels, clever
songs, and popular plays. His superb sense of humour, his absolute command of
58
Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 30 / 2
English idiom, his ability to set vivid scenes and to define unforgettable and
endearing characters have all made him beloved to readers everywhere. This is
true even though Wodehouse can be numbered among the most politically incorrect of authors, and despite the disrepute he suffered because of his wartime
broadcasts from Germany, innocent though they were. His real fans r~arely, if ever,
find fault withi him, as the literature about Wodehouse attests, for most of what
one reads about 'Plum' is indeed written by - and for - aficionados. Loving enthusiasm reigns, but also danger lurks, when fans go on to compile bibliographies.
This volume seemingly tries to be all things for all people interested in Wodehouse, and it does indeed contain an eclectic and entertaining mix of material.
The 'comprehensive bibliography' attempts to identify all of Wodehouse's published work. The 'checklist' pertains to James H. Heineman's 'major private collection' of Wodehouse memorabilia. Besides having an extensive set of colour
plates showing dust wrappers and covers, the volume is ornamented throughout
with attractive drawings and cartoons by Peter Van Straaten. (The plates are for
the bibliophiles, the drawings are for the fans.) There is a directory of Wodehouse
dealers, collectors, and societies, and of exhibitions, or at least of exhibitions held
in I98 I and 1982. (Have there been no others?) The sections on
Letters / Correspondence and Published Music include excerpts of various lengths
from the items listed. There is a 'selective' chronology which includes, 'just to
avoid a foolish consistency, some trivial and entertaining events.' There are also a
number of brief but wholly irrelevant or frankly self-congratulatory sections,
such as 'Wherefrom Wodehouse,' which have been prepared by and for Wodehouse 'savants.' Thrown in for value are some critical essays meant to establish
Wodehouse's place in the serious literary pantheon, but one looks in vain for a
study of aspects of the printing history of Wodehouse publications, or of
Wodehouse's relations with his publishers.
The bibliography proper is an excpansion of what first appeared in P.G. Wodehouse: A Centenary Celebration, r881-I98I,James H. Heineman and Donald R.
Bensen, eds. (New York: The Pierpont Morgan Library; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 198I). Eileen McIlvaine, the pr·incipal compiler, is chief reference
libr·arian at Columbia University. Previous Wodehouse bibliographies, such as
Joseph Connolly's P.G. Wodehouse: An I'llustrated Biographywith Complete Bibliography and Collector's Guide (London: Orbis, I979) and David Jasen's A Bibliography and Reader's Guide to First Editions of P.G. Wodehouse, 2nd ed. (London: Greenhill, 1986) have restricted themselves to listing or briefly describing
fir·st editions of the works. There is thus every reason to applaud the appearance
of a comprehensive and descriptive bibliography of Wodehouse.
Unfortunately, what we have befor·e us is neither truly comprehensive nor
consistent in its efforts to provide the facts, once we get beyond first English or
American editions, which are well handled. For later. issues and editions, there is
a wide disparity of information given in each entry, technical language is haphazardly applied, andS there are obvious lacunae and curious omissions. For Wodehouse material not present in Heineman's marvelous private collection or in the
libraries actually checked by McIlvaine and her helpers, information is taken
59 Books in Review
from standard reference works, such as the Nuc, or the English Catalogue of
Books. In the section on translations, much information was admittedly located
only through various 'national bibliographies and library catalogs,' and~ since
exemplars 'have not been examined, entries are inconsistent and incomplete' (p.
203). The section on works about Wodehouse omits all book reviews but includes
representative volumes which contain 'a single but interesting reference' to
Wodehouse. By this standar·d, the most important or interesting book reviews (by
Evelyn Waugh, Ogden Nash, etc.) could~ well have been listed. Every one of the
thirteen main sections pr·ovides examples of omissions and inconsistencies.
Anyone interested in Canadian editions of Wodehouse will be particularly disappointed. Through a cursory search, I have been able to identify the following
items omitted: Money for Nothing (Toronto: McClelland and~Stewart, 1928), Hot
Water (Toronto: McClellandl andi Stewart, 1932), Laughing Gas (Toronto:
McClelland and Stewart, 1936), Lord Emsworth and Others (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,1937),
and Eggs, Beans and Crumpets (Toronto: Longman,
Green, 1940). There are undoubtedly many others. None of the Canadian ed~itions
or issues listed - twelve novels and one omnibus volume - is described in any
detail .
One is constantly nagged by peculiarities of enumeration and description.
Why are the fourteenth and sixteenth editions of The Little Nugget listed
(AI6a.I4, 15),but not the fifteenth ed~ition, which I know is not a ghost? The
seventh, tenth, and thirteenth pr·intings of fill the Reckless are listed~(A25gb.4, s,6),
but not those in between; for the seventh and thirteenth printings, the number of
copies completed is given, but not for the tenth printing (which completed 98,638
copies). No space is given in the numbering system for the missing printings.
Sometimes the absence of information about a 'reissue' implies that it is similar
in details to previous listings, but sometimes details are spelled out and repeated~.
Sometimes we get information about such details as sewn-in adlvertisement
sheets or price or size, and sometimes we d~onot. Such inconsistencies are multiplied ad infinitum, so that it is really impossible to be sure about what features
are important, and what are not, in identifying any book in hand. It is all very well
for the compilers to enumerate as much material as they hmave been able to find,
but too much of this material has been derived second~-hand, and too much has
been either r·ecorded or· neglected without reference to some encompassing principle.
Access to the many items in the bibliography is via a single alphabetical ind~ex
and by chronological lists at the beginning of some sections. There are occasional
lapses: for example, the entry for After the Show (M3.2) is not indexed. More varied indexing would have been welcome.
Ibelieve that most of the faults found~ in this volume could~have been avoided
by tighter ediitorial control and~another year of information gathering. But as a
Wodehouse fan, Iadmit that this book will be a pleasure to own and consult. The
overall design is excellent and it contains a wealth of data. While it is not truly
comprehensive, and its bibliogr·aphical terminology is not always precise, its
accomplishments are manifold. It will be the cited authority on Wodehouse for a
60 Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 30 / 2
long time to come, and it will afford not infrequent delight to Wodehouse collectors when they find that they have an item 'not in McIlvaine.'
ALVAN
M.
BREGMAN
University of Toronto
William S. Peterson. TI2e Kelmscott Press: A History of William Morris's
Typograpl2icalAdventure. Oxford: Clarendon Press; Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1991. xiv, 372 PP-; £3 5, $95.oo U.s.
(cloth). IsBN 0-19-8I2887-8 (Clarendon Press), IsBN 0-520-06I38-I
(University of California Press).
Marianne Tidcombe. TI2e Doves Bindery. London: The British Library;
New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Books, 199I. xiv, 490 pp.; $185.oo U.s.
(cloth), $I50.oo U.s. (unbound). IsBN o-7I23-o238-7 (British Library),
IsBN 0-938768-I7-I (Oa~k Knoll).
The fascination of scholars and collectors for the work of the great presses of the
British 'printing revival' of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is,
apparently, endless. Books and articles in profusion chronicle and~analyse the
typography, design, and bindings of the books printed by Kelmscott, Doves,
Ashendene, Golden Cockerell, Gregynog, and the other private presses of this
pelriod, so much so that there is a tendency to wonder what more can possibly be
said on the subject. These two splendid~ books convincingly d~emonstrate that,
indeed, there is lots more to learn about the Kelmscott Press and the Doves bind~ery, and both provide new information and~ fresh approaches.
In 1984 William Peterson publishedA Bibliography of the Kelmscott Press in
the Oxford University Press Soho series, which, surprisingly, for the first time,
provided detailed and accurate descriptions of the Kelmscott books, including
information on type, paper, ink, illustration, and~decoration. He also described~
the financing of the press, the marketing of the books, gave some account of the
people who worked with and for Morris, and provided a brief analysis of the texts
chosen for inclusion and the editing of them. Unfortunately the book looked
exactly like a Soho bibliography, and Morris must have turnedl in his grave to see
what he regarded as the most beautiful books of their time physically represented
in so pedestrian a manner. In The Kelmscott Press Peterson has provided. an
extended analysis of the books earlier described, together with an account of
Morris's career in the book arts, the context of pre-Raphaelite art and Victorian
book design, and a study of the vexed question of the influence of the Kelmscott
Press. Happily, his book is well illustrated and its design pleasantly echoes, but
doesn't ape, the Kelmscott books.
William Morris founded the Kelmscott Press in 189I and~died~ in 1896. A few
of the books were issued after his death, bunt essentially the fifty-two titles, some
of them substantial productions, appearedf during a five-year span. Considering
that during this time Morris continued to write prolifically, actively engaged