The weird menace pulps might be said to owe a debt to Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White -- along with the Gothic novel -- as what has been described as the first Sensation Novel.
For this reason, we point your attention to The Woman in White 150th Anniversary Project: In the words of the project's site, "One hundred and fifty years after its first publication, The Woman in White is being published once more in its original, weekly parts. For the first time in one and a half centuries readers can enjoy the original text as it was published. And experience the agonising week's wait after each cliff-hanging ending."
Site guy Paul Lewis is releasing e-text versions of each serialized episode 150 years after the original episode appeared in Charles Dickens' magazine All The Year Round. These facsimile-edition PDFs are posted to the Anniversary site on a weekly basis -- the first was posted November 26, 2009, as was its counterpart published in print form November 26, 1859.
You also may subscribe free to receive the serialized novel week by week in your in-box by e-mailing Paul Lewis. (The Web site provides the e-mail address.)
As Paul notes, "The story was published simultaneously in New York in Harper's Weekly. Each part had two illustrations by John McLenan (1827-1865). They are also available week by week and in a PDF, which is also e-mailed free to subscribers."
If the novel has appeared too long and daunting for you to read, this serialized format is a great way to tackle it. And it's a fun way to experience the thrill pulp readers had when waiting for next week's serial chapters to be published in Argosy or S&S Western Story Magazine, Astounding, or any number of other magazines.
For those who want the whole thing at once (or maybe need a new doorstop), there are a couple of good paperback editions with nice critical introductions, historical info, and annotations:
The Oxford World's Classics edition is available from Amazon.com by clicking here.
The Penguin Classics edition is also available from Amazon.com by clicking here.
The Woman in White 150th Anniversary Project site is available by clicking here.
Posted by ds at December 13, 2009 08:00 PM
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