The Case of the Initial Letter
Charles Dickens and the Politics of the Dual Alphabet
1st Edition
Published on 21. July 2020
184 pages
978-1-5261-4628-1 (ISBN)
Description
The book analyses attempts by Dickens and other nineteenth-century writers to challenge established ways of using the distinction between upper and lower case letters, in the interests of a wider radicalism. It discusses Dickens's satire - on 'Shares' in Our Mutual Friend, on Paul Dombey's position as the 'Son' of Dombey and Son - alongside the proto-modernist typography of suffragist poet Augusta Webster and the work of Marx's translators transforming German conventions of capitalisation into English under the influence of Dickens and Carlyle. Placing these innovations within the history of the dual alphabet from its invention by Carolingian scribes to its rejection by modernist poets and the Bauhaus printers, the book tracks the dual alphabet through Dickens's manuscripts, corrected proofs, and the 'prompt copies' for his public Readings, highlighting distinct ways in which writing, printing and speech produce meaning. -- .
Reviews / Votes
'The Case of the Initial Letter is fundamentally an effort to redress 'the failure of literary critics and cultural historians to accord the dual alphabet the attention that it deserves'. With all the authority that upper-casing can muster, this is a Good Book.'Amanda Lastoria, Simon Fraser University, SHARP News
'This study of Dickens's career and his experiences with capital letters and reader reception extend superbly to the book's conclusion, which addresses the rise of Modernism.'
Textual Cultures -- .
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More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Illustrations
16 black & white illustrations
ISBN-13
978-1-5261-4628-1 (9781526146281)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2020
Manchester University Press
€124.60
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Gavin Edwards is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of South Wales -- .
Content
1 Introduction: The case of the initial letter
2 Typographic leveling in an age of revolution
3 The Land of Liberty
4 Dombey - and Son - and Daughter
5 People, things, and abstractions
6 Print capitalism
7 Freedom, Equality, Property and Bentham
8 Writin'large
9 PIP and D O C T O R M A R I G O L D
10 Dickens, the suffragists and proto-modernism
Bibliography
Index -- .
2 Typographic leveling in an age of revolution
3 The Land of Liberty
4 Dombey - and Son - and Daughter
5 People, things, and abstractions
6 Print capitalism
7 Freedom, Equality, Property and Bentham
8 Writin'large
9 PIP and D O C T O R M A R I G O L D
10 Dickens, the suffragists and proto-modernism
Bibliography
Index -- .
