Obadiah Oldbuck redux: Beau Ogleby

As I mentioned yesterday (this seems to be today's standard opening), yet another hand-drawn old graphic novel has come to light. I'll hand over to Darrell Coons as he's the Man Who Knows about it:

"Your column on a unique copy of Obadiah Oldbuck caught my eye because of a similar copy I have of Beau Ogleby, another of Töpffer's comic albums that was translated into English and redrawn for publication. Like the Turner copy of OO, my copy of Beau Ogleby is hand-drawn and bound in a hard cover, and is a very close copy of the English edition by Tilt and Bogue, but without the illustrated title page. It is not signed and has nothing to indicate who the artist was. I have discussed this book with Prof. David Kunzle, an authority on Töpffer. He concluded that it had been traced from the Tilt and Bogue edition, possibly in the time period of that publication. I wonder if it could have been drawn by William Webb Turner."

Darrell further mentions, "I bought it from a book dealer in London. Someone wrote inside the front "Ex Bristow 3/78," whatever that means. The paper has a watermark "1834," but I have not yet been able to find out what that means."

Could this be another example of William Webb Turner's work? Frankly, your guess is as good as mine. From the examples of Turner's work I was able to post the other day it can be seen that he was a capable copyer of Töpffer's work. The Obadiah Oldbuck volume could well have been traced as is the Beau Ogleby.

I'm beginning to think of Turner as the BitTorrent of his era: copying comics and lending out the sheets to his pals to whom he was known as "World Wide" Webb Turner.

(* The pictures above show how close but subtly different the hand-drawn manuscript version is to the original Tilt & Bogue version, from which the hand-coloured picture at the top of this column comes. The coloured edition can be seen in full at the Michegan State University website... except the link doesn't seem to be working at the time of writing. Hopefully it's working again by the time you read this.)

Obadiah Oldbuck redux: James B. Sparke

The recent column on a hand drawn version of Obadiah Oldbuck has generated quite a bit of interest thanks to a mention of the piece on the Platinum list (an introduction to Platinum Age comics can be found here, written by Robert Beerbohm). As usual, comments have come directly to me—this is what happens when you advertise your e-mail address—and I've had some very interesting ones.

Hand drawn versions of early comic strips are a little more common than I thought. Both John Adcock (Yesterday's Papers) and Michel Kempeneers (Signs) have mentioned a discussion on the Platinum list of a discussion about hand drawn version of Cham's Histoire de M. Lajaunisse (1839).

I'm no expert on these early comics (I'm learning as I go along) but from what I read I believe this version (see pic at the top) is a coloured, pencilled version of the original which was pen-and-ink. The page is signed "J. B. Sparke, 1847", and the whole book has been scanned (including blanks). The large scans of illustrated pages appear between pages 5v and 75v.

Sparke seems to be a real person: James B. Sparke is credited with a lithographed book held by the British Library: The fortunes & mis of lunes (sic) of Narcissus Muff or the adventures of a day. [2], 36 leaves, 19 x 25 cm (obl.). Lithographed illustrations with captions. The cover title is The Adventures of Narcissus Muff by Jas. B. Sparke. The B.L. gives a date of c.1840.

James Sparke isn't a common name... but it's not uncommon enough for there not to be a number of them listed in various records. Once your brain has settled after that tortuous multiple negative, I'm tempted by one: a James B. Sparke who lived in Norfolk, full name James Bird Sparke.

There was a James Bird Sparke who ran Sparke's Foundry, based at Thorn Lane, Norwich, which was sold off by court order in 1843. James Bird Sparke (senior, if you like) was already deceased by then. A younger James Sparke appears in the 1841 census, a 22-year-old solicitor, living with his mother, Mary Sparke, in Mountergate, Norwich. In 1851 he is listed as a 30-year-old Attorney at Law. The 1851 census gives him the middle initial B.

Let me emphasise that this is total guesswork. I've no way of connecting James Bird Sparke to the Jas. B. Sparke who drew Narcissus Muff, about which I can find absolutely no reference so it might be something else for the Platinum group to explore if someone can get along to the British Library. James Bird Sparke just has the right initials and for some mysterious reason people involved with the law also seem to have the urge to write and draw. Look no further than Justice of the Peace William Webb Turner (artist of the Obadiah Oldbuck book which was the subject of the earlier column).

Was James Bird Turner a creative type? Well, yes he was. The next trace of him I've found is that he and his younger brother Alfred, describing themselves as "engineers" patented "improvements in sawing machinery" in 1857.

In the 1861 census we find James Sparke, now a 42-year-old Independent Gentleman, still living in Norfolk. In 1866, he married Mary E. Knapman at Clerkenwell, London, and the 1871 census shows him working as a solicitor and living with his wife in Islington. In 1891, the couple are still together, now living in Paddington with their daughter Ellen. James is described as no longer practicing (at 72 that might not come as a surprise).

Death records reveal that James Bird Sparke, born 1818, died in 1892 in Paddington, London.

More on this interesting subject tomorrow.

William Webb Turner and Obidiah Oldbuck

I received an intriguing query recently relating to a column I wrote about Britain's first graphic novel, The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck, published by Tilt and Bogue way back in 1841.

The query was from a collector who has a copy of the Tilt and Bogue book. He also has another edition which is rather intriguing: a hand-drawn, bound copy of the book signed by one William Webb Turner.

The book originally came from a Reading-based book-dealer named G. A. Poynder in the 1920s, who advertised the title thus:

TURNER: (William Webb) The Adventures of Obidiah Oldbuck, The Crosses, Chagrins, Calamities, etc. by which his courtship was attended showing also the issue of his suit and his espousal to his lady love. Authors original manuscript consisting of 84 finely executed pen and ink drawings with MS descriptions beneath. Oblong 12mo morocco, undated. 42 shillings.

It would appear to have been purchased by Sir John Fox (1855-1943), a Justice of the Peace for Oxfordshire who was invested as a Knight in 1921 and who lived in Goring, near Reading. The reason we know this is that Fox (pictured above) wrote to Poynder in 1923 asking how Poynder had acquired the book. Poynder responded that he was "unable to remember where the book came from as I have attended so many sales lately."

According to my correspondent: "The title page of the book has at the bottom 'William Webb Turner. Del.' Alongside the word Del there are three smaller initials to the top and one to the bottom which we cannot read."

Well, my first (and, I must confess, only) idea about 'Del' is that it stands for 'delineator', i.e. one who delineates or sketches. I believe this was sometimes used as an addition to a signature back in the days when printed artwork was a two-person process—you would have the artist who drew the image and an engraver who would create the woodblock from which the published version was printed.

"These are extremely well drawn illustrations that are the same as the printed version with the exception of a moustache added to main character on some pages," continued our correspondent. "The binding of the book appears to be contemporary with the date of the printed version."

Having never seen a copy of the original T&B book, I can't speak for how precisely the illustrations match but it's an intriguing thought that Turner may have been the artist who may have helped create the British edition of Obidiah Oldbuck (which was, of course, a rip-off of Rodolphe Töpffer's Les Amours de Mr Vieux Bois).

William Webb Turner was a published writer: Seaford Past and Present: Handbooks and Visitor's Guide by W. Banks and Wm. Webb Turner was published by R. W. Jackson of Seaford in 1881. A revised edition was published a year later. W. Banks would appear to be William Banks who lived in nearby Lewes.

(If you're like me, you'll have developed a sudden interest in Seaford... so here's a Google Maps satellite image of the town and its Wikipedia entry.)

According to a notice in The Times (29 May 1893), William Webb Turner, the son of the late J. S. Turner of Chyngton, died on the 23rd of May 1893, aged 52. Interestingly, both Turner and his father are mentioned in Kelly's Directory of Seaford for 1866 (which I found here): J. S. Turner was the Bailiff of the court and Captain William Webb Turner was based at the Head Quarters of Second Battery at Seaford, Newhaven and Alfriston. Turner had been a member of the 3rd Sussex Artillery Volunteers, having been promoted to Second Lieutenant on 15 May 1860 (a note of which can be found here).

Armed with this, we find that William Webb Turner was born in 1840, his birth registered in Steyning, Sussex, and we can track Turner through census records. He was the son of James S. Turner, a farmer and land agent who was also a Justice of the Peace, and Sarah Ann Turner. William followed in his father's footsteps and, eventually, also became a J.P. and land agent. His last occupation (given in the 1891 census) was "estate agent and civil engineer".

We have to presume that Turner was also an amateur artist of some ability, but the very fact that he was born a year before the Tilt & Bogue book came out rules him out as the artist who first brought Töpffer's work to the UK. Our correspondent notes: "The book also has written lightly in pencil to the inside front book: 'unique copy'." It's certainly that, and it would seem to have an interesting story behind it. One wonders if Sir John Fox recognised William Webb Turner as a fellow J.P. and purchased it for that reason—and why Turner, with his background in the military and the law—felt compelled to draw the book in the first place.

(* The portrait of Sir John Charles Fox comes from the National Portrait Gallery website where you can also find him resplendent in his wig.)

Tilt, Bogue and the first graphic novel

(* Since yesterday's post was a 'last', I thought I thought I'd make today's a 'first'. Messrs. Tilt and Bogue of 86 Fleet-street published the first 'graphic novel' back in 1841 and, as it's something I know little about, I thought I'd do some digging...)

From The Examiner, 23 October 1841:

The Adventures of Mr Obadiah Oldbuck. Tilt and Bogue.
This is a series of comic outlines, in the wildest spirit of caricature, purporting to set forth "the crosses, chagrins, calamities, checks, chills, changes and circumgirations," by which Mr Obadiah Oldbuck's courtship was attended; showing also the issue of his suit, and "his espousal to his Ladye Love." But it is, in point of fact, no other than a compilation, with some intermeddling and not the least acknowledgment, from the adventures of our old friend Monsieur Jabot (sic).

No doubt there is a great deal of fun in the thing, but it is not so certain that it will find admirers in the class for which this translation is intended. Not to say that some of the spirit escapes in the transmission, there is a national exaggeration in it emphatically French in style; the humorous allusion is for the most part local; and the hits at the monks, for example, have little or no meaning on this side of the Channel. Some cleverness is at the same time shown in the insertion of one or two English touches, and after all it is a thing to be judged of by itself, and laughed at without why or wherefore.

The first British graphic novel, The Adventures of Mr Obadiah Oldbuck was obviously, from the first, a plagiarism of Les Amours de Mr Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer (1799-1846). Töpffer's original had appeared in Paris in 1837, although the Swiss schoolmaster had drawn an earlier version for the amusement of his pupils' and friends' amusement ten years earlier; it was his third published book, following Histoire de Mr. Jabot (1933) and Histoire de Mr. Crépin (1837). The British edition that appeared in the autumn of 1841 was, in fact a plagiarism of a plagiarism as its engravings were based upon pirated edition published in 1839 by Gabriel Aubert (Paris, Aubert, Galerie Vero-Dodat). According to Thierry Groensteen (quoted here), the Aubert editions were redrawn and the images reversed left-to-right. Töpffer, angered by the poor quality of the pirated editions, produced an improved version of Mr Vieux Bois... and Aubert promptly produced improved pirate editions of the three books. I believe the British Oldbuck was based on either the improved Töpffer edition or the improved pirated Aubert edition. You can see some comparisons between various editions here. My feeling is that, if the American edition was based on the British edition, the latter was probably based on the revised pirated Aubert edition.

Although it seems unlikely that the adventures of M. Vieux Bois were available widely to the general public here in the UK, they were certainly available, as were other French albums. For example, the following advert appeared in The Morning Chronicle, 2 September 1842:

FRENCH ALBUMS.-- Mons Télémaque, ou les Aventures du Fils d'Ullsse, price 6s.; Le Prince Colibri, price 6s., being two new French Comic Album Stories, with many ludicrous sketches in the same style as the nine popular Monsieur Vieuz-bois and Co., 6s each album.--at DELAPORTE'S Parisian Repository, 37 and 38, corner of Burlington-arcade and gardens.

Delaporte was, according to Leonardo De Sa, the authorised London agent for Aubert. M. Delaporte's Parisian Repository was advertising as early as 1841, and moved to 116, Regent-street, in 1843. They were advertising until at least 1847.

The adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck soon made their way to the United States where they were printed in a supplement to Brother Jonathan Extra IX (New York, Wilson & Co.) on 14 September 1842.
A second album by Töpffer followed in 1842 entitled The Comical Adventures of Beau Ogleby, based on Histoire de Mr. Jabot. The date appears to have been uncertain amongst researchers but it is listed amongst the new publications in the February 1842 issue of The Gentleman's Magazine. Such a quick follow-up, only a few months after the release of Obadiah Oldbuck presumably indicates that the latter must have sold reasonably well.

Denis Gifford owned a copy of this rare book and recorded that "Where Töpffer drew his hero Jabot looking to the right, Messrs. Tilt and Bogue show Beau Ogleby looking to the left." Whilst Denis thought that it may have been a deliberate change made "with an eye to copyright", the simpler and more likely explanation is that it was derived from the first (1839) pirated edition by Aubert.

In 1845, Töpffer's M. Cryptogame began serialisation in the Parisian magazine L'Illustration, appearing in 11 episodes between January and April. David Bogue (now running what was formerly Tilt and Bogue) published an authorised translation of the story later that year using stereotypes delivered to London by Töpffer's cousin, Jacques-Julien Dubochet. According to Leonardo De Sá, it was published in July 1845 and predated the first French album collection (published in October 1846); the only advertising and a review I have managed to trace date from November 1845.

From The Examiner, 15 November 1845:

New work by the Author of 'Mr Oldbuck.' Just published, price 5s. cloth, Veritable History of Mr Bachelor Butterfly; showing how, after being Married, he narrowly escapes Bigamy, and becomes the Step-father of Eight Hopeful Children. A series of Plates of the most Bizarre description, with Letterpress Illustrations.

Also, by the same Author.

Mr Oldbuck's Grotesque Adventures. 84 Plates, 7s. cloth.
Beau Ogleby's Comical History. 6s. cloth.

D. Bogue (late Tilt and Bogue), Fleet Street.

From Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper, 23 November 1845:

The Veritable History of Mr Bachelor Butterfly, showing how it was diversified by many changes, for, after being married in the belly of a whale, he narrowly escaped bigamy, and became the stepfather of eight hopeful children. -- This singular narrative of engravings, by the author of "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck," has issued from the mine of a neighbour, Mr. Bogue, of Fleet-street -- a spot which has been fruitful in bye-gone times when "Tilt" appeared at the advent of Christmas, under the witty auspices of a "Hood" -- and "Comic Annuals" gave pungency to the taste of the dull town, during the literary feed of the wintery months. "Bachelor Butterfly" now flutters among the holiday press; and, we think, from the very absurdity of his uncommon, and improbable adventures, laughter must be elicited from the tickled nerves of his readers. He has a touch at some of the sentimental, as, "we may be happy yet;" -- the ludicrous, as, "the man in the whale's belly fishing for his wig," "a game of coits in its ribbed abode with oystershells," "the Maynooth priest," and the "potato disease." The "finis," with the fiddler who begins his tune on the title page, is well done.

* * * * *

Charles Tilt's bookshop by George Cruikshank, from Cruikshank's Almanack for March 1835.

David Bogue was born in 1807 or 1808, of a respectable Scottish family, the nephew of Dr. David Bogue (1750-1825), the eminent Dissenting minister, author of An Essay on the Divine Authority of the New Testament (1801). In early life, Bogue became assistant to Mr. Thomas Ireland, bookseller, of Edinburgh, with whom he remained until 1836 when he came to London and joined the the establishment of Charles Tilt. Tilt (born in 1797) was already well established, having worked at Hatchards and other bookselling businesses from the age of 14. His own publishing and bookselling business was established in 1826 at 86 Fleet Street, at the corner of St Bride's Passage.

Charles Tilt did very well as a bookseller, publishing his book in a variety of formats aimed at a range of pockets. According to Logan Delano Browning, in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, "He frequently used the extensive side windows of his shop to display his offerings, which were often so popularly received that railings were required to hold back the crowds who came to view them, and their availability was reported in newspapers such as The Times."

In 1840, Tilt passed over three senior employees to invite David Bogue to join him as a partner. Thus, Tilt and Bogue became the publishing imprint for a wide range of books, many highly illustrated, on art, wild flowers, books of poetry, etiquette, railway companions and glossarys. After three years, Tilt sold out his interest to Bogue for approximately £50,000 and Bogue continued to publish a wide range of illustrated books and cheap editions, although his fortunes began to decline in the mid-1840s.

His chief asset was George Cruikshank whose association with Charles Tilt had begun as early as 1827 and led to the successful publication of My Sketch Book (1833) and the annual Cruikshank's Comic Almanack (1834-52). Unfortunately, the association was not always successful: the Almanack had begun well, with contributions by William Makepeace Thackeray, but suffered from the competition with its rival Punch's Almanack which began publication in 1844; Cruikshank's Omnibus (9pts, May 1841-Jan 1842), edited by Laman Blanchard, did not make any significant profit; and, although well known today, such sets as The Bottle (1847) and The Drunkard's Children (1848) were a complete flop at the time.

Bogue's publishing continued until his death on Wednesday, 19 November 1856, at the age of 48. A notice carried in many newspapers revealed that "On Tuesday, Mr Bogue was in the city, transacting his usual business. On the evening of that day he was at home with his family at his residence in Camden Town, and retired to rest in his accustomed health and spirits. About 8 o'clock yesterday morning he complained of a sudden sense of suffocation, almost immediately afterwards became speechless, and in two or three minutes had ceased to exist. The deceased was for many years in partnership with Mr Tilt at whose death he carried on the business alone, and was greatly respected for the uprightness and straightforwardness which marked all his transactions."

"He was a man of great intelligence and enterprise, strict integrity, and kind disposition, and his loss will be deeply felt," said the Illustrated London News. Bogue was survived by his wife, Alicia (1822?-1904), and five children, Anne (1846-1910), Alicia (1847?-1909), Charles Tilt (1849-1921), Edgar (1850-1919) and David (1852-1897).

On his death, Charles Tilt returned to the business from which he had retired sixteen years earlier. Tilt had amassed quite a fortune and began travelling around the continent and Middle East, one trip inspiring The Boat and the Caravan (1847) about his tour of Egypt and Syria. In the 1850s he had split his time between homes in Brighton, London and Bath. Tilt had to negotiate with various creditors and, in June 1857, the Publishers' Circular announced that the business had been purchased "for a large sum" by the firm of Kent & Co. of Paternoster-row.

Charles Tilt retired to his home in Penbridge Gardens, Bayswater, where he died on 28 September 1861, leaving the considerable sum of around £180,000 to his daughter, Mrs. Jane May Gladstone.

Notes
The full version of the Tilt and Bogue (1842) Beau Ogleby can be found here. (The first few pages appear blank but keep going.)
The full version of the David Bogue (1845) Bachelor Butterfly can be found here.
The home page of Leonardo De Sá's site dedicated to Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois can be found here.