Artifact Inventory

1. When, where, and by whom was your text first printed?

Printed in Walpole, New Hampshire by D. Carlisle in 1797.

D. Carlisle was an independent printer, as were most in that time. There’s not much more information available than that, and I couldn’t find anything else printed by him.

2. How often was your text reprinted? List all of the reprints using MLA citation style. Do not confuse dates of publisher’s/printer’s birth and death with reprint dates.

Tyler, Royall. The Algerine Captive, Or, The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill ; Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines. Walpole, N.H.: D. Carlisle, 1797.

Tyler, Royall. The Algerine Captive; or, The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill [Pseud.] Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines. London: Printed for G. and J. Robinson, 1802.

Tyler, Royall. The Algerine Captive, or, The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill, Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines / [by Royall Tyler]. London: Printed for G. and J. Robinson, 1804.

* "This work was published, in two volumes, somewhat more than a year ago ... The proprietors now present it to the readers of the Lady's Magazine. It will be completed within the year, or in a few numbers more"--p. [1].

Tyler, Royall. The Algerine Captive, Or, The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill ; Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines. Hartford, CN: P. B. Gleason, 1816.

Tyler, Royall. The Algerine Captive; Or, The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill [Pseud.], Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1941.

Tyler, Royall, and Jack B. Moore. The Algerine Captive; Or, The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill, Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines. (1797) A Facsimile Reproduction of the London Ed. of 1802, with an Introd. Gainesville, FL: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1967.

* Edition: A facs. reprod. of the London ed. of 1802 with an introd. by Jack B. Moore

Tyler, Royall. The Algerine Captive. New Haven, CT: New College & University Press, 1970.

* Introduction by Don Lewis Cook. Published again in 2003.

Tyler, Royall. The Algerine Captive, or, The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill, Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines. The Modern Library classics. New York: Modern Library, 2002.

* Introduction by Caleb Crain.

Tyler, Royall. The Algerine Captive, or, The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill: Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.

* Introduction by Don Lewis Cook. Originally C&U Press, 1970.

I included some notes alongside the MLA citation style. I do find it interesting that there’s a gap from 1816 right up until 1941, and then another small gap for 20 years when the text wasn’t published at all. Finally, starting in 1967, there’s a flurry of reprints straight up until now. This pattern was also reflected in the records of Microfilms, so I take that as a confirmation that this was, for a long time, a “forgotten” text. I am going to make it part of my research to look at developments in literary theory during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s until the present to see if there’s a connection.

Another interesting thing to note was that the work was published in “Lady’s Magazine” for the 1802 and 1804 printings. That suggests a different audience than I would have assumed (and in a different country).

3. What was the actual size of your novel in inches or centimeters? (That is, consider it as a material object.) What information can you find about its physical presence? Do you think it was expensive or inexpensive?

Seventeen centimeters in two volumes. Seventeen centimeters is only a little more than six inches; the book was comparable to a modern, medium-sized paperback in size. The first volume was 214 pages long (the text is printed pretty big compared to modern printing). The second volume was 240 pages long. So both volumes were pretty thick, and it was probably expensive to own both.

The volumes are divided at the point that Updike is taken to Algiers by pirates. This hardens the transition, to use craft terms, and would have made both readings very distinct. The first would have been concretely picaresque and rooted in a strong narrative moment, and the second would have been a detached, somewhat disembodied captivity narrative and informational catalogue. Such a strong division might mean that readers would pick and choose which to read.

4. View the original title page using the digital database or microfilm. What is included there? Transcribe the exact words of all of the information listed on the title page.

The title page includes a stamped seal, the title, a quoted line of Shakespeare, the volume number, and publishing and printing information. Besides the American Antiquarian Society seal, it reads:

“The Algerine Captive; or the life and adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill: Six years a prisoner among the Algerines.

By Royall Tyler [handwritten]

By your patience,
I will a round unvarnished tale deliver
Of my whole course.

Shakespeare

Volume I.

Published according to Act of Congress.

Printed at Walpole, Newhampshire,
By David Carlisle, Jun.
And sold at his bookstore.
1797”

With the exception of the handwritten “By Royall Tyler” and the lower-case “Published According to,” all of the text is capitalized.

The second volume title page is identical except it is labeled “Volume II” instead of “Volume I.”

PDF Saved.

There is no illustration no the front or in the front matter. The quote by Shakespeare is obviously meant to increase credibility, as is the straightforward title page. For the title pages, at least, the novel seems to take its aspiration to non-fiction seriously.

5. If there is more than one edition, compare the title pages. Note any differences here.

The 1816 Hartford edition has much cleaner, more legible text. Whether this is due to the quality of the PDFs or the originals isn’t immediately clear, but I’m willing to side with the latter. The text of the 1797 edition is visibly crooked and inconsistent. The title and Shakespeare quote are unchanged. The American Antiquarian Society seal is absent, and instead of the volume number, there is the phrase “Two Volumes in One” (The 1816 edition was continuous). Obviously, the publishing and printing information is different, as is the date.

PDF Saved.

As previously noted, the division of the novel into two very differently written volumes could have had a dramatic effect on its reading. The 1816 version, though, is all-in-one, and would have forced readers to be exposed to both volumes, and perhaps make them more conscious of the difference. This could have implications in terms of the way identity is searching in the first and solidified (and, even, taken for granted) in the second.

6. What miscellaneous front matter exists? Describe it:

• Frontispiece
• Engravings
• Preface
• Dedication
• Other

The novel includes a dedication to “David Humphrey’s, Esq., Minister of the United States at the Court of Lisbon.” This dedication does not acknowledge the fiction of the piece and even implies that it is non-fiction as “a detail of those miseries of slavery.” Additionally, the dedication explicitly defines the purpose of the text as in opposition to the institution of slavery.

The novel also includes a preface that sides the author with those who despise fiction novels, and positions The Algerine Captive as non-fiction, substantive, didactic, and useful.

The front matter of the second volume includes a list of “Errata.” More specifically, line by line diction corrections.

PDF Saved.

I find it interesting that The Algerine Captive so repeatedly and strongly purports itself as non-fiction even though its story is so sensational and improbable. I can understand why a novel would pretend to be a true and didactic story considering the biases against fiction novels of the time period, but for a novel so sensational it seems strange.

7. How long is your novel?

Is it broken into volumes and chapters or is it one big chunk? How many volumes and/or chapters? Is the print large and easy to read or dense, with many words on each page and lines close together.

The novel is 454 pages long, broken into two volumes and many short chapters. The first volume, 214 pages long, is divided into 32 chapters. The second volume, 240 pages long, is divided into 37 chapters. The print is large and easy to read, with relatively few words on each page by modern standards.

For a point of reference, the 2002 Modern Library Paperback Edition is also about 6 inches, but finishes in 226 pages, or about the length of just one volume of the original. Modern paper is also thinner, so carrying those two volumes must have taken at least some effort.

8. What back matter exists (following the end of the novel, usually signified by the word “finis”)? Sometimes lists of subscribers or other works from this printer or bookseller are mentioned here.

The Early American Imprints database did not include any back matter.

9. Given all of the above, what might you wish to include as you think about creating a virtual/physical site for your project (your blog)?

I might want to include the quote from Shakespeare in a header for the blog, and perhaps include the preface and selected PDFs as reading material. The straightforwardness of the novel might best be complemented by a straightforward blog.