My google-fu has failed me on this one, so any help would be welcome.
The book in question is The Lady of the Decoration, published by The Century Co. in New York in 1906, with many reprints. I’m wondering whether it was ever published in England and known to readers there. Given its US popularity, I would think so, but I can’t find anything to confirm it.
The British Library Catalogue shows that they have a London edition, brought out by Hodder and Stoughton in 1906 under the author’s true name of Fannie Caldwell Macauley. (The US edition was published under a pen name, Frances Little.) They also have a Toronto edition, brought out by the Musson Book Co. under the name Frances Little.
Thank you for the quick reply! I see now that the British Library Catalogue is available online, which is good to know for future reference.
I knew that “Frances Little” was a pen name, interesting that the London edition was published under the author’s true name and in the same year.
There seem to be several Print on Demand editions currently available in the UK, all of which are the same imprints as US PoD editions, starting at £12.99
All of them are as by Frances Little.
Thanks, the PoD was one of the sites that googling did show up. My question, which I should have asked specifically (instead of asking if it was “ever” published in England) was whether it was published in England in the early 1900s soon after its original publication in the US.
Its first appearance in Australian bookseller advertisements is in June 1906, author credited as ‘Anon.’ among their list of the latest releases. This is in Melbourne, so a well-connected big city, but it is also being added to the Wagga Wagga School of Arts Library lists in August 1906. It was still popular in Toowoomba by October 1906. One article notes it had already reached its third edition before the end of the year [what we’d call its 3rd impression or printing].
The first mention of a publisher is Hodder and Stoughton in Aug 1906, and the author is listed as ‘Anon’, but as Frances Little before the end of the year.
Reviews show it to be both popular and well-regarded, ie not trash, even among the literary sophisticates of Wagga and Toowoomba.
Sorry, I did realise that you were only talking about early editions but I thought I’d give some current info in case anyone else was interested. Should probably have fleshed out my post a little more.
Not a problem @Meurglys ! I have to wonder who’s buying those Print on Demand editions: people who never heard of Project Gutenberg or Google Books, or who very strongly prefer print books? It must be a small market.
And @Banksiaman interesting to know that the book was popular in Australia. I think I read somewhere that its appearance at the end of the Russo-Japanese war including its description of an American woman’s visit to both of those countries was very timely, especially considering interest in that war around the world.