BENJAMIN DISRAELI

It is easier to blame historians and political critics of the life and statesmanship of Disraeli for neglecting his novels, than it is oneself to judge these novels as literature, apart from the huge mass of incident, ambition, and achievement that went to make up the character of their extraordinary author. To attempt in a few pages an estimate of Disraeli as a man of letters were manifestly absurd, seeing that he was rarely that and nothing else. It were doubly absurd, even if possible, to treat in summary of the interactions of his political and literary genius when one of the finest biographies of modern times (and that in six volumes) has already covered every inch of the ground. The only purpose, therefore, which these unauthoritative notes may serve is that of indicating in a few words the development of Disraeli as a novelist and the respective content of his principal books.

Although his novels fall into distinct and different groups, they are all primarily satirical in character. From the moment of the anonymous but sensational appearance of Vivian Grey to that of the publication of Endymion which bore on each of its three volumes the name of the most distinguished statesman of the world, Disraeli held up alike to the follies and the ideals of his age the mirror of a keen and ruthless mind.

But if he gazed on his contemporaries more often from the angle of satire than from any other, he enclosed in their various frames the period portraits that are his books. As a very young man—unknown, ambitious, at once receptive and intensely sensitive—he used as material for fiction not only the incidents of his own life, but, even more, the thoughts and aspirations that filled his teeming brain. Vivian Grey (1826-7), Contarini Fleming (1833), and Alroy (1833) are mainly interesting as autobiography, and to the use of personal experience as material for novel-writing he returned in extreme old age when, looking back from the splendid eminence of his power, he described in the pages of Endymion the long road that he had travelled from obscurity to fame.

Vivian Grey appeared in five volumes, with an interval of a year between the issue of the first two and that of the last three. But for the brilliant publicity given to it by Colburn, the book would have attracted little or no attention. It is a showy, careless pastiche of the society of the day, a gallery of isolated portraits rather than a single composition, attractive to the fashionable public of the time for its thinly veiled presentment of well-known men and women. The reader is further unpleasantly aware that the author's interest in his book did not extend much beyond the first of the five volumes. Young men find it easier to start a book than to finish one, and Disraeli was clearly no exception to the rule.

Contarini Fleming and Alroy, written after an extended tour in the East, show, at its most luxuriant and ornate, the author's talent for heady, rhetorical prose. Like most of his race, Disraeli was more susceptible to magnificence and to decoration than to severe simplicity, and throughout his books was prone to an excessive use of epithet and metaphor. If these two early books show his love of ornament more shamelessly than those written at a maturer age, they can claim nevertheless to have received more careful and conscientious working, so that their embellishments, if too lavish, are at least scrupulously fashioned.

Between the publication of the last three volumes of Vivian Grey and that of the story of Contarini Fleming Disraeli published two works of fiction which, although in the matter of primary characteristic isolated from the rest of his work and from each other, contain elements that constantly reappear in the books of his later life.

The Voyage of Captain Popanilla (1828) is a satire on English political and social institutions cast in the form of an inverted Gulliver's Travels or Erewhon. Instead of an Englishman reaching an imaginary and fantastic land, where he finds conditions that correspond partly to the prejudices, partly to the ideals, of the author, the hero of Disraeli's satire is a being from a mythical world, who comes over the sea to an island that is, in all but name, England as Disraeli saw it. As an example of pertinacious and aggressive parody The Voyage of Captain Popanilla is witty and readable enough, but it fatigues, as do all pastiches of the kind, by its somewhat literal pursuit of contemporary activity. Disraeli should have limited his prospect of satire, for the individual beauties of any view are appreciated in proportion to the smallness of their number. Popanilla is overcrowded, and the reader's mind tires with the effort to solve the riddle that is contained in nearly every paragraph.

The Young Duke (1831) was written to make money. One may go farther and confess that the author, seeking frankly to profit by the contemporary popularity of the novel of fashionable life, wrote a tale of society into which he crammed all that he knew of character and incident likely to appeal to the mood of the moment. With such antecedents it is surprising that The Young Duke is not a worse book than it is. Inevitably it reads artificially, and the young writer had not the skill entirely to conceal the wilfulness with which the work was put together. On the other hand, the heroine deserves the attention of Disraeli students, for she is the direct forerunner of Sybil, and that part of The Young Duke which depends on her personality is not without a touch of the four great political novels upon which Disraeli's fame as a writer must rest.

It was four years after the publication of Alroy that Disraeli next appeared as a novelist. He then published, within six months of one another, two stories that stand markedly apart from the rest of his work, in that they are wholly without political significance. Even amid the extravagance of Contarini Fleming and The Young Duke occur passages that depend for their significance on political movements or political thought of the time. Vivian Grey, being a roman À clef of high society, and Popanilla being a direct satire of institutions, are naturally full of what was, even in those days, the author's ruling interest. But Henrietta Temple (1837) and Venetia (1837) are romances pure and simple. They may be said also to have no autobiographical significance, save in so far as the first part of the earlier book was written under the stimulus of a real love affair. It must be admitted that Henrietta Temple, once it gets beyond the boundary of Disraeli's own passionate experience, is a tame and careless book. The interval that passed between the writing of the earlier and that of the later portion seems to have extinguished his enthusiasm for the work. Colburn was clamouring for a novel, and Disraeli, as always hard pressed for money, raked out his incomplete manuscript, furbished it up, finished it off, and delivered it to the publisher. Venetia has not this fault of interrupted fashioning. It is, however, in one reader's opinion at any rate, a very tedious affair—rhetorical, unreal, and sluggish in movement; but this view is contrary to that held by many, who consider that the book's portraiture gives it value as commentary on the life of Byron and other famous people.

There follows, this time after an interval of seven years, the first of the four famous political novels that, whether or no they can be said to have introduced a new genre into English fiction, are undoubtedly the finest achievements of Disraeli's literary career. Coningsby (1844), Sybil (1845), and Tancred (1847) are too well known to need description here. Because, however, their interdependence as parts of a general scheme in the mind of the author tends to become obscured by consideration of their respective quality, note may be taken of the fact that Coningsby is a novel of political views, Sybil one of social conditions and classes among the people, and Tancred one of religion as an influence in national life. Of the characters in Coningsby many reappear in Tancred, while Tadpole and Taper, whose names have become part of English political slang, pull their wires and cadge their jobs as assiduously in Sybil as in the story that preceded it. It would be interesting to work out a comparison between Disraeli and Trollope as political novelists. Probably one would come to the decision that those of Disraeli are the better political novels and those of Trollope the better novels of politics. In other words, Disraeli is the cleverer publicist, but Trollope the finer artist. Coningsby and its fellows depend very much on contemporary fact and personality for their full understanding and significance. Surely it is not hyperÆsthetic to demand that literature be its own interpreter? In so far as a work of art requires outside knowledge for its proper appreciation, to that extent it falls short from what in art is highest and most perfect.

The appearance of Lothair in 1870 caused something of a scandal in serious political circles. The Briton is accustomed to take his statesmen seriously, but his novelists with frivolity and in the leisure hour. Wherefore he regarded it as unseemly that the name of an ex-Prime Minister and of a man whose political career was by no means run should figure on the title-pages of a three-volume novel. Curiosity conquered disapproval and, as on an hundred other occasions, a book condemned for its very existence was purchased and read in tens of thousands. Lothair is the work of a man who knew everybody and almost everything. The personal satire, the constructive and destructive fervour of Coningsby, Sybil, and Tancred have given place to a greater gravity and restraint, to an ironic vision more general and less individual. Taking as his subject the power of the Catholic Church, the rival power of revolutionary free thought and the indeterminate central position of the Church of England, Disraeli built up his fourth and most extensive picture of the England of his time. If we miss the idealist conviction that gives to some of the passages in Tancred the force of a splendid sermon, we gain a certainty and a dignity of thought which were inevitably lacking in the books of the earlier period. We also continue to enjoy the epigram, the vivid minor portraiture, the lightning grasp of fact and of every implication of fact, that give to the political novels of Disraeli their unique flavour and importance.

BIOGRAPHY

THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN DISRAELI, EARL OF BEACONSFIELD. By William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle. 6 vols. London: John Murray. 1912-1920.

1825

AN ENQUIRY INTO THE PLANS, PROGRESS AND POLICY OF AMERICAN MINING COMPANIES. London: John Murray. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. 135 + (1) of which p. (6) is paged vi. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—These observations were made from a third enlarged edition published in the first year of issue, and it is likely that the first edition, although similar in format, etc., contains fewer pages.

1825

LAWYERS AND LEGISLATORS: Or Notes on the American Mining Companies. (Quotation from Hooker.) London: John Murray. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. (viii) + 99 + (1). No half-title. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

1825

THE PRESENT STATE OF MEXICO: As detailed in a Report presented to the General Congress by the Secretary of State for the Home Department and Foreign Affairs at the Opening of the Session in 1825. With Notes and a Memoir of Don Lucas Alaman. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. 130. Advertisement of Disraeli's two earlier pamphlets occupies verso of half-title, facing title-page. Pp. (6) to 55 are occupied by a Memoir of Don Lucas Alaman, written by Disraeli. Alaman's report begins on p. 57. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

1826/7

VIVIAN GREY. “Why then the world's mine oyster which I with sword will open.” London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street. 1826 (Vols. I. and II.), 1827 (Vols. III. IV. and V.). 5 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 266 + (2).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 236 + (4). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (237) to (240).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 333 + (3). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (335) and (336).

Vol. IV. pp. (iv) + 362.

Vol. V. pp. (iv) + 324.

Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—Vols. I. and II. of this story were published on April 22, 1826; Vols. III. IV. and V. on February 23, 1827.

1828

THE VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN POPANILLA. By the author of Vivian Grey. “Travellers ne'er did lie though fools at home condemned 'em.” London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street. 1828. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¾). Pp. viii + 243 + (1). Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—This book was published on June 3, 1828.

1831

THE YOUNG DUKE: “A moral Tale, though gay.” By the author of Vivian Grey. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1831. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (7? × 4¾).

Vol. I. pp. iv + 300. No half-title.

Vol. II. pp. (vi) + 269 + (3). Text ends p. 269; note occupies p. (271).

Vol. III. pp. (vi) + 265 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (267) (268).

Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.

Note—The only copy of this book I have been able to consult in its original state contained at the end of Vol. I. a publishers' catalogue, 8 pp., dated April, 1832. Clearly it did not belong to the first issue, but what date should be found on a catalogue of the earliest issue, where in the three volumes such a catalogue should appear, or whether there should be a catalogue at all, I do not know.

1832

ENGLAND AND FRANCE: Or A Cure for the Ministerial Gallomania. (Quotation from speech by Duke of Wellington.) London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1832. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. viii + (xii) + 268. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

Notes—(i) This book was published in April, 1832.

(ii) The above observations were made from a rebound cut copy, and details of measurement are therefore conjectural.

1832

CONTARINI FLEMING: A Psychological Autobiography. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. MDCCCXXXII. 4 vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).

Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 288.

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 247 + (1).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 194 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (195) (196).

Vol. IV. pp. (iv) + 230 + (2).

Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.

Notes—(i) This book was published in May, 1832.

(ii) The sheets of the Murray edition were issued in 1834 by Edward Moxon, Dover Street, over the name: “D'Israeli The Younger, author of Vivian Grey, Alroy and Ixion in Heaven,” with a new preliminary signature (8 pp.) to Vol. I. containing a preface in explanation of the author's action in putting his name to the book. Consequently from the purist point of view the Moxon edition of 1834 should be collected as containing fresh matter. It was bound in pale maroon cloth, with paper label. Yellow end-papers.

1833

THE WONDROUS TALE OF ALROY: The Rise of Iskander. By the author of Vivian Grey, Contarini Fleming etc. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1833. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. xxv + (iii) + 303 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 305 + (3). Publishers' advertisements, dated February, 1833, occupy pp. (307) and (308).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 324 + (4). Advertisements of works by the same author occupy pp. (325) and (326).

Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—This book was published on March 5, 1833.

1833

WHAT IS HE? By the author of Vivian Grey. (Extract from a Letter.) London: James Ridgway, Piccadilly and E. Lloyd, Harley Street, MDCCCXXXIII. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5? × 8½). Pp. 16. Half-title serves as wrapper and bears the words “Price Sixpence.” P. 16 serves as back wrapper. Advertisements occupy p. (2).

Note—The above notation was made from a copy of the “New Edition, Revised” of the pamphlet. Since, however, this first appeared in the same year and over the same imprint, I have ventured to assume comparative uniformity of size and appearance.

THE REVOLUTIONARY EPICK: The Work of Disraeli the Younger. Author of The Psychological Romance. London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street, MDCCCXXXIV. [The title-page to Vol. II. reads in addition: “Books II. and III. containing The Plea of Lyridon, the Genius of Feudalism; and the First Part of the Conquest of Italy.”] 2 vols. Large Post 4to (8¼ × 10½).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 89 + (3).

Vol. II. pp. xi + (i) + (91) to 206.

Advertisement of Contarini Fleming (differently worded in each case) faces title in both volumes. Paper boards. Paper label on sides. White end-papers.

Note—Only fifty copies of this edition were printed. See preface to the second and revised edition published in 1864, details of which are given below.

1834

THE CRISIS EXAMINED. By Disraeli the Younger. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1834. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8½). Pp. (iv) + 31 + (1).

Notes—(i) This pamphlet was issued in December, 1834.

(ii) The above observations were made from a rebound copy, wherefore the style of binding is an assumption, and I suspect that two or more flyleaves—maybe printed with advertisements—should be added to the reckoning here set down.

1835

VINDICATION OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION IN A LETTER TO A NOBLE AND LEARNED LORD. By Disraeli the Younger. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1835. 1 vol. Tall Demy 8vo (5½ × 9). Pp. ix + (i) + 210 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (211) and (212). A four-page leaflet of publishers' advertisements should be found inserted between the front end-papers, and an erratum slip at p. (v). Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—This book was published in January, 1835.

1836

THE LETTERS OF RUNNYMEDE. “Neither for shame nor fear this mask he wore That, like a vizor in the battle-field But shrouds a manly and a daring brow.” London: John Macrone, St. James's Square. MDCCCXXXVI. 1 vol. Slim Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 8¼). Pp. (xxiv) [paged as ii + (v) + vi-xx + (ii)] + 234 + (6). Publishers' advertisements, 2 pp., dated August 1, 1836, occupy pp. i and ii. The half-title is inset on different paper between p. ii. and title-page. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers. Also in dark blue embossed cloth, gilt, yellow end-papers.

Note—This book was published in July or August, 1836.

1837

HENRIETTA TEMPLE: A Love Story. By the author of Vivian Grey. “Quoth Sancho, Read it out by all means; for I mightily delight in hearing of love stories.” London: Henry Colburn, 13 Great Marlborough Street, MDCCCXXXVII. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 299 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 309 + (3). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (311) and (312).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 331 + (1).

Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—Although dated 1837, this book was actually published in December, 1836.

VENETIA. By the author of Vivian Grey and Henrietta Temple. “Is thy face like thy mother's my fair child?” “The child of love, though born in bitterness and nurtured in convulsion.” London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13 Great Marlborough Street. MDCCCXXXVII. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 346.

Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 377 + (1).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 324. Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (i) and (ii).

No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—This book was published in May, 1837.

1839

THE TRAGEDY OF COUNT ALARCOS. By the author of Vivian Grey. London: Henry Colburn, Great Marlborough Street. 1839. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8½). Pp. vi + (ii) + 108. Errata slip facing p. 1. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—This book was published in May, 1839.

1844

CONINGSBY: Or The New Generation. By B. Disraeli Esq., M.P., author of Contarini Fleming. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1844. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. iv + 319 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 314.

Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 354. Advertisements occupy pp. (351) to (354).

No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—This book was published in May, 1844.

SYBIL: Or, The Two Nations. By B. Disraeli, M.P., author of Coningsby. (Quotation from Latimer.) London: Henry Colburn. Publisher. Great Marlborough Street. 1845. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).

Vol. I. p. viii + 315 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 324.

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 326 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (327) and (328).

Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—This book was published in May, 1845.

1847

TANCRED: Or The New Crusade. By B. Disraeli, M.P., author of Coningsby, Sybil etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street, 1847. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. (ii) + 338.

Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 340.

Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 298 + (12). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (299) to (310).

No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.

Note—This book was published in March, 1847.

1852

LORD GEORGE BENTINCK: A Political Biography. By B. Disraeli, Member of Parliament for the County of Buckingham. “He left us the legacy of heroes; the memory of his great name and the inspiration of his great example.” London: Colburn and Co., Publishers, Great Marlborough Street. 1852. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¾ × 8¾). Pp. viii + 588. Publishers' catalogue, 8 pp., and measuring 5 × 8, bound in after p. 588. This catalogue is followed by a further single sheet (2 pp.) advertisement, measuring 5 × 8½. Dark olive-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.

Note—Although dated 1852, this book was actually published in December, 1851.

1853

*IXION IN HEAVEN. THE INFERNAL MARRIAGE. THE VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN POPANILLA. THE TRAGEDY OF COUNT ALARCOS. By Benjamin Disraeli. London: David Bryce, 48 Paternoster Row. 1853. 1 vol. Cloth.

This little book—a volume in a cheap reissue of the novels and romances of Disraeli—is the first book edition of Ixion in Heaven and The Infernal Marriage, which first appeared in the “New Monthly” in 1829 and 1830, and had not been reprinted in the interval.

1864

THE REVOLUTIONARY EPICK. By the Right Honorable Benjamin Disraeli. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green. 1864. 1 vol. Small Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7?). Pp. (xiv) [paged as (ii) + x + (ii)] + 176 + (2). Preface (in dedication), dated Easter, 1864, occupies pp. (vii) and (viii). Preface reprinted from the original edition occupies pp. (ix) to (xii). Brown cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.

Note—The text of this edition differs extensively both in wording and length from that of 1834. In his preface the author states that the work was completed in 1837, but, through press of political duties, he made no arrangement for its issue before the present date. He also avers that only fifty copies of the edition of 1834 were printed.

LOTHAIR. By the Right Honorable B. Disraeli. (Quotation from Terentius.) London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1870. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 328. Publishers' advertisements, 32 pp., dated January, 1870, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 321 + (3).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 333 + (7). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (337) to (340).

Green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Chocolate end-papers.

Note—This book was published in May, 1870.

1880

ENDYMION. By the author of Lothair. “Quicquid agunt Homines.” London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1880. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 331 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 337 + (3).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 346 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (347) and (348).

Scarlet cloth lettered in silver. Grey and white decorated end-papers.

Note—There are two styles of blocking for the binding of this book; that most worked and bearing publishers' imprint at foot of spine is the earlier.

1825

THE LIFE OF PAUL JONES. From original documents in the possession of John Henry Sherburne Esq., Register of the Navy of the United States. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. xii + 320. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.

Notes—(i) With reference to this book Monypenny says: “The exact relationship of the English book to the American original is not clear; but the former seems also to have been written by an American, and the original MS., which has been preserved, shows that Disraeli's share in it was limited to the introduction here and there of a word or phrase where the excision of a passage rendered such amendment necessary.” In addition to the corrections thus described Disraeli contributed an anonymous preface to the book.

(ii) It is interesting to record here that in 1844 Captain Marryat was asked to write a life of Paul Jones. He was interested in the project, but it never materialized.

1826

THE STAR CHAMBER. A Weekly Magazine published by William Marsh, 145 Oxford Street. 9/8 numbers Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾) were published: No. 1, April 19, pp. 1 to 20; Nos. 2 and 3 (double number), April 26, pp. 21 to 58; No. 4, May 3, pp. 59 to 74; No. 5, May 10, pp. 75 to 90; No. 6, May 17, pp. 91 to 110; No. 7, May 24, pp. 111 to 126; No. 8, May 31, pp. 127 to 142; No. 9, June 7, pp. 143 to 154.

After the completion of the 9/8 numbers, a four-page sheet of preliminary matter was issued, of which p. (i) reads:

THE STAR CHAMBER. Vol. I. Part 1. April 19 to June 7, 1826. (Quotation from Cavendish, “Wolsey.”) London: William Marsh, 145 Oxford Street. Pp. (iii) and (iv) are occupied by contents list.

Notes—(i) At one time the responsibility for the whole contents as well as for the editorship of the “Star Chamber” was fathered upon Disraeli. Monypenny, however, combats this theory. He says: “The 'Star Chamber' was founded by a certain Peter Hall, a friend of Meredith's at Brasenose, who, through Meredith, had become acquainted with Disraeli. Disraeli contributed some fables with a political application under the title of The Modern Aesop, and perhaps other matter. But in later life he expressly denied ('The Times,' November 3, 1871; the 'Leisure Hour,' November 4, 1871) having been editor, if indeed there ever was an editor.” This represents, of course, the most recent and authoritative opinion on the matter; but it is interesting, on p. 150 of the catalogue of the Hope collection of newspapers, etc., in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (1865), to find reasons given for the suppression by Disraeli of all copies of the “Star Chamber” upon which he could lay his hands. The Peter Hall referred to above was the Reverend Peter Hall, B.A., editor of “The Crypt.”

(ii) It is because the “Star Chamber” has come to be looked upon as a Disraeli item that I have included it here, despite the fact that in so doing I exceed the limit of these bibliographies, which take no account of magazine contributions of the authors concerned.

1849-1859

THE WORKS OF ISAAC DISRAELI. Edited with Introductions by Benjamin Disraeli.

Disraeli started work on a new edition of his father's books in 1847, but the actual publication was, for various reasons, spread over a period of ten years. The following are the dates and details in outline of the first issues of the various titles:

1849. CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE. London: Edward Moxon. 3 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾). Dark green cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers. Vol. I. contains “A View of the Life and Writings” of Isaac Disraeli written by his son and extending to over thirty pages.

1851. COMMENTARIES ON THE LIFE AND REIGN OF CHARLES THE FIRST, KING OF ENGLAND. London: Henry Colburn. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾). Dark green cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers. Vol. I. contains a brief preface by Benjamin Disraeli.

1859. THE LITERARY CHARACTER Or The History of Men of Genius; and LITERARY MISCELLANIES and AN ENQUIRY INTO THE CHARACTER OF JAMES THE FIRST. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo.

1859. THE CALAMITIES AND QUARRELS OF AUTHORS. 1 Vol. Cr. 8vo.

1859. AMENITIES OF LITERATURE. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo.

These last three items were all published in London by Routledge, Warnes and Routledge, and bound in dark green cloth, with yellow end-papers. They contain no prefaces by Benjamin Disraeli, who contented himself with care for the text of his father's work.

NOTE

To a collected edition of his novels issued in 1870 Disraeli wrote an important preface, characterising the work of his youth from the viewpoint of a man in his sixties and indicating the considerable revisions carried out in nearly all the books.

No attempt has been made to include in the foregoing bibliography the reports of and selections from the speeches of Disraeli, which—not surprisingly—were issued in large numbers during his later life. Also are omitted two volumes of his early letters, published after his death.