When Authors Hid Their Identity ❦ Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Today we're exploring why some of the most famous writers in history hid their identity, never showing their true name on their work in their lifetime. The story of why is complex, and changes over time. In this video I am focusing on the development of the novel and ideas of authorship from about 1750 to about 1870, taking in the likes of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot.
If you want to learn more about this period, and the subject of authorship at the time, then I found the work of Peter Garside and Jeremy Raven indispensable in producing this video. You can read Garside's chapter on Authorship in Volume II of the Oxford History Of The Novel In English, English and British Fiction 1750-1820.
Hi, I'm Tom and I'm an antiquarian bookseller, somebody who deals in rare books and manuscripts. If you're interested in book collecting, check out my website www.tomwayling.co.uk :)
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I could listen to you read the phone book Tom. Your voice and presenting style is perfect for this. Fascinating again
I take enormous petty pleasure in the fact that the dude who Charlotte wrote to is now a high-value Jeopardy clue that wouldn't get rung in, while she and her sisters are household names.
He's still a pretty big deal in Romantic studies to be fair. But yeah, not Bronte status lmao
That insult is delightful
Thank you for bringing books and authors “alive”. I love your channel 🥰
Sorry for the dumb question but I figured I'd ask. How would you even claim that you were the true author all along? If you wrote under a false name or just "A Lady" or "A Man". Anyone could claim to be the true author, Plagiarism must of run rampant back then.
The publisher knew.
Thank you, Tom! I've learned so much by watching your videos. Please, do an extended one on Oscar Wilde''s life or "The Picture of Dorian Gray."
That definitely warrants a video at some point - I'll make a note
Can you please do a video on Beowulf! I just bought a limited edition Seamus Heaney translation and would love it if you did a video, maybe about the nowell codex
Enlightening video as always, Tom. I was not aware that male novelists, too, felt social pressure to hide their identities for fear of the stigmas attached to their craft (I'd love to hear Henry Tilney's take on this) -- an interesting look at how perspectives on the novel have shifted throughout the medium's history.
"Frankenstein" has lived an interesting life, from the conception story and second edition to misattributions, disgust at its subject matter, and early play adaptations which ravaged both the plot and certain of the messages Shelley was trying to convey... Do you think you'd ever devote a whole video to it? I'm a fanatic of the novel so any opportunity to learn more about is greatly appreciated
Wonderful video! I always thought anonymous was strictly used by women. Thank you for helping to expel that myth!
There is computer programs that can analyze anonymous literary works, compare them to known works, and identify the author.
Primary Colors was an anonymously written story mimicking the Clinton presidential campaign in 1996. Donald Foster of Vassar College used a computer program to correctly identify Newsweek columnist Joe Klein as the author. (slamming democrats is profitable business).
The key is to have attributed samples to compare the anonymous piece to. And this was 28 years ago. The programs must be much better today.
If someone wanted to they could probably identify the authors of over half the anonymous books from long ago. Provided the author has published work under their own name to compare to.
I was expecting an expose on the true author of Shakespeare's plays, narrative poems, sonnets, and other poems. It is clear to me and a great many other historical and contemporary prominent people that that person was Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. It is certainly understandable why he, de Vere, would hide his identity as the true author. Perhaps one day you will choose to enter the fray...on either side. I do enjoy your TH-cam presentations. Thank you.
I wonder what you could tell us about the Seven Pillars of Wisdom?
As always, What a superbly interesting and entertaining presentation. Your ability to explain ideas of some complexity so quickly and lucidly is a joy. Thank you for your enthusiasm and scholarship.
I love your channell I from Argentina your explanation and the way you speak is very culear to me 😊
The past is such an odd place. Say a novel’s written by “a lady” and no one has a problem with reading it. But give the name of the specific lady and she is socially stigmatized for being an author.
Then again, isn’t that similar to Japan currently? Manga comics are incredibly popular, but writers often keep their identities hidden because it’s considered embarrassing to be a manga author?
Another great video. Much appreciated, Tom.
Such a great video
Very interesting - I didn't know Scott published his novels anonymously. And CB got her revenge in the end - Southey isn't even covered in most courses (at least here in the US) on British Poetry.
43😊
Another great video Tom!
Fascinating!
Every time I watch you in this environment I think of “Fanfare-Rondeau” and PBS' “Masterpiece Theatre”. [A USA public broadcasting program]. The drama you add is worthy of that label at times.
Thanks for another great video Tom!! Your insight into books and authors is very helpful.
Women often hid their identities in genres such as sci-fi as well. The one exception I can think of is Ursula K. LeGuin. I'd love to hear about women authors and science fiction one day.
Octavia Butler another fave who stood out in that era as claiming her name.
I adored the work of Andre Norton for many years before learning her first name was Alice.
From the wiki entry for C. J. Cherryh - "Cherryh (pronounced "Cherry") appended a silent "h" to her real name because her first editor, Donald A. Wollheim, felt that "Cherry" sounded too much like a romance writer.[3] She used only her initials, C. J., to disguise that she was female at a time when the majority of science fiction authors were male."
It was the late '70s and Cherryh still needed to hide her gender.
"Whatever may be the success of my stories, I shall be resolute in preserving my incognito..." - these words resonated deeply with me. In today's era, anonymity is indeed a precious commodity. To a certain extent, I concur with George Eliot's sentiment that anonymity can be empowering. I find myself drawn to the ethos of such legendary characters, with ninjas embodying a similar penchant for discretion. 😂
Thank you for providing such an intellectually stimulating video!
Love the video! Really interesting learning about all these unknown parts of literature history!
Such an informative and cool video! Thank you.
Very cool information. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Excellent essay!
Thank you for presenting this.
Thank you, brother!
🏹🎀🫴🙏🔥❤️🔥
Fascinating video. Thank you.
Love and appreciate your channel. Keep it up.
What microphone do you use?
interesting
Did J K Rowling use initials to hide her gender?
I believe that’s why she chose to use initials. Interestingly in the first edition, first issue of Prisoner Of Azkaban it says ‘Copyright Joanne Rowling’ rather than JK, but it was corrected partway through the printing
That is so interesting. When I was getting my masters, we were told the whole line that “unknown” was almost always female. I think the full, more nuanced story is more interesting.
As a female with an ambiguously male name, I can see the advantage of choosing a male name or going unknown. When people don’t know my gender (eg - emails, etc.) they communicate very differently.
Yes. I saw it in a QNA somewhere once.
I believe it was her publisher’s recommendation, because they thought boys wouldn’t want to read a book with a boy protagonist if they knew the author was a woman. Clearly they were wrong.
If they remake the lord of the rings and dont cast you as bilbo or something, the world will suffer with what might have been. ♡