The Diary of a Nobody

by George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith, Paul Bailey (Introduction)

Overview

The Diary of a Nobody is a comic masterpiece that has been hugely influential since its first publication in 1892.

Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features Weedon Grossmith’s original illustrations and an afterword by novelist Paul Bailey.

Proud to be ensconced with his wife Carrie at ‘The Laurels’ in the desirable London suburb of Holloway, bank clerk Charles Pooter decides to keep a diary. From the frequent visits from his dear friends Mr Cummings and Mr Gowing to the ups and downs of his feckless son Lupin, the self-regarding Mr Pooter considers, mistakenly, that all aspects of his life are worthy of note. The result is a hilarious spoof and a perfectly pitched satire on late Victorian society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509890873
Publisher:	Pan Macmillan
Publication date:	02/07/2019
Series:	Macmillan Collector's Library , #180
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

George Grossmith enjoyed a successful career spanning four decades as an accomplished singer, comic actor and songwriter. He was particularly renowned for his performances in a number of Gilbert and Sullivan operas. His younger brother Weedon trained as an artist and worked as a portrait painter before turning his hand to acting and playwriting. The brothers shared a gift for comedy and from 1888 to 1889 they collaborated on a series of brilliantly observed columns in Punch magazine featuring the diary of an impossibly pompous lower-middle-class bank clerk named Charles Pooter. The Diary of a Nobody went on to be published in book form in 1892 and it has been in print ever since.
George Grossmith (1847-1912) was born in London. As a young adult George joined his father as a performer on the stage, a career which spanned four decades, during which time he wrote successful comic operas, musical sketches and innumerable songs. In 1892 he collaborated with his brother Weedon, publishing The Diary of a Nobody from a series of humorous columns they’d previously written for Punch magazine. It has been in print ever since.
Weedon Grossmith (1854-1919) was born in London and pursued a career in painting before turning his hand to acting and later to playwriting. In 1892 he collaborated with his brother George, publishing The Diary of a Nobody from a series of humorous columns they’d previously written for Punch magazine. It has been in print ever since.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

George and Weedon Grossmith: A Brief Chronology

A Note on the Text

The Diary of a Nobody

Appendix A: Contemporary Reviews

1. From Baron de B.W. & Co., “Our Booking Office,” Punch, 103 (23 June 1892)
2. From The Saturday Review, 74 (23 June 1892)
3. From The Athenaeum (13 August 1892)
4. From The Literary World, 46 (29 July 1892)
5. From The Speaker, 6 (6 August 1892)
6. From The New York Times (19 December 1892)
7. Publisher’s Note to the “new edition” of 1910 (10 October 1910)
8. From The Bookman [London], 39 (December 1910)
9. From The Bookman [London], 57 (December 1919)
10. From Xanthias, Queen’s Quarterly, 27 (1920)

Appendix B: The Clerk’s Lot in Life

1. From Charles Edward Parsons, Clerks; Their Position and Advancement (1876)
2. From The Clerk:A Sketch in Outline of His Duties and Discipline (1878)
3. From Francis Davenant, Starting in Life: Hints for Parents on the Choice of a Profession or Trade for Their Sons (1881)
4. From The Story of a London Clerk: A Faithful Narrative Faithfully Told (1896)
5. From Charles Booth, ed., Life and Labour of the People in London (1896)
6. From Robert White, “Wanted:A Rowton House for Clerks,” Nineteenth Century, 42 (October 1897)
7. From Shan Bullock, Robert Thorne: The Story of a London Clerk (1907)

Appendix C: Domestic Economy at The Laurels

1. From G.S. Layard, “A Lower Middle-Class Budget,” Cornhill Magazine, 10 (Jan–June 1901)

Appendix D: Suburban Fictions in the Wake of the Diary

1. From R. Andom, Martha and I: Being Scenes from Our Suburban Life (1898)
2. From W. Pett Ridge, Outside the Radius: Stories of a London Suburb (1899)
3. From Barry Pain, Eliza (1900)
4. From Keble Howard, The Smiths of Surbiton: A Comedy without a Plot (1906)

Appendix E: Séances in the Suburbs

1. From Morell Theobald, Spirit Workers in the Home Circle (1887)
2. From Florence Marryat, There Is No Death (1891)
3. From Barry Pain, Eliza Getting On (1911)

Appendix F: Suburban Life and its Critics

1. From Geoffrey Mortimer, The Blight of Respectability (1897)
2. From H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898)
3. From T.W.H. Crosland, The Suburbans (1905)
4. From C.F.G. Masterman, In Peril of Change: Essays Written in Time of Tranquillity (1905)
5. From C.F.G. Masterman, The Condition of England (1909)

Works Cited and Recommended Reading

Editorial Reviews

Although The Diary of a Nobody has never been out of print for over the last hundred years, it has, until now, failed to attract an edition capable of really illuminating its lost social and literary contexts. Peter Morton’s Broadview edition remedies this lack with its excellent introduction, incisive textual annotation, and its comprehensive selection of extracts from background material. This extensive scholarly apparatus, rather than overwhelming the Diary’s comedy, succeeds in breathing new life into an established classic of its genre.” — Jonathan Wild, University Edinburgh

“Finally the Grossmith’s The Diary of a Nobody has an edition worth of its importance. Peter Morton’s introduction, like the secondary materials he has wisely chosen, pays attention to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of readers to see that the Diary for all its notoriety was not a singular phenomenon, but rather part of a flourishing of interest in the lives of clerks and other lower-middle-class figures. This is another fine Broadview edition that will find its home on the bookshelves of scholars, students, and readers of nineteenth-century literature.” — Scott Banville, University of Nevada Reno

From the Publisher

The great thing about Pooter is that he is still lovable in all his self-important absurdity. He always tries to make the best of everything, and although he is a figure of fun, his celebration of a life that leaves little mark upon the world is gently moving.”

Guardian (London)

The idea that this man is one of themselves, but that readers can see what he does not, whilst still feeling benevolently sympathetic towards him—that they are, in some way, superior to their neighbor—provides the most enduring ground for the Diary’s popularity.”

author of The Victorians and the Visual Imaginatio Kate Flint

One of the funniest books ever written.”

British author and screenwriter Andrew Davies

[A] masterpiece of comic irony…Frederick Davidson’s impeccable reading is truly inspired, in perfect unity with the Pooteresque view of the world.”

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