JOHNMASEFIELD: A STUDY
Abstract
In 1958, John Masefield made the observation that out of three hundred million readers of English, three read his work and four criticized it. In 1978, a later Poet Laureate named John Betjeman made the observation that "Sea-Fever" and "Cargoes" would be "remembered as long as the language lasts." In 1958, John Masefield made the observation that out of three hundred million readers of English, three read his work and four criticized it. These instances represent two perspectives during the collapse of a reputation for Masefield, who was once a best-selling author and a publishing sensation. During this time period, Masefield's reputation was falling. He received accolades from the academic community as well as honors on a global scale. The downward trend may have reached its end as of today. An important character in the history of literature is only remembered now in old-fashioned poetry collections. Masefield's prolific productivity, Edwardian multiplicity, and success in the past all work against him now. His books are, for the most part, no longer in print, and academic circles pay him little mind. It was not necessary for it to occur. Masefield was a writer who, notably in the 1920s, made an effort to reinvent himself. However, in the process of repressing (or trying to hide) his work, he committed a number of mistakes.
Keywords
Novels, Themes, Writing, FeminismHow to Cite
References
L.A.G. Strongs John Masefield, Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1952, p.7.
Evidence within the archives of Sidgwick and Jackson suggests that the bibliographical listing was compiled by Rupert Hart-Davis (see Bodleian Library, MSS.Sidgwick and Jackson.228, f.l78).
British Library, Department of Manuscripts, Add.Mss.56605, ff. 142-43.
G. Thomas Tanselle, Literature and Artifacts, The Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., 1998.
G. Thomas Tanselle stated in reply to my enquiries that ‘the phenomenon ... [of] signatures that do not match the actual gatherings is a fairly common one in American books of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries’.
G. Thomas Tanselle, ‘A System of Color Identification for Bibliographical Description’, ed. Fredson Bowers, Studies in Bibliography XX, 1967, pp.203-234
Philip W. Errington, John Masefield's Laureateship Verse Published In The Times - A Chronological Listing, The John Masefield Society, Ledbury, 1995.
Private Collection (Rosemary Magnus).
Constance Babington Smith., John Masefield - A Life, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1978, p.88. Ann Saddlemyer gives the range October 1904 to March 1905 for Masefield’s responsibility over the column (see The Collected Letters of John Millington Synge, ed. Ann Saddlemyer, two volumes. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1983-1984, volume one, p.97).
The BBC began as a commercial company: The British Broadcasting Company. After four years of existence it became The British Broadcasting Corporation in December 1926.
The poem, simply entitled ‘Ossian’, was published within The Bluebells and other Verse in 1961.
Private Collection (Rosemary Magnus).
B.C. Bloomfield, W.H. Auden - A Bibliography. The Early Years through 1955^ Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., 1964, p.xv.
Masefield’s first published poem (‘Nicias Moriturus’) was published in The Outlook on 3 June 1899. The volume In Glad Thanksgiving was published by Heinemann on 13 March 1967.
The Twenty-Five Days was published by Heinemann in October 1972.
Joseph McAleer, Popular Reading and Publishing in Britain 1914-1930^ Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992, pp.33-34.
Archives of Grant Richards (Chadwyck-Healy microfilm, A16, f.256)
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