Harper's Weekly Illustration

In The Moonstone in Harper’s Weekly, which was circulated through the United States, the title is similarly printed in distinct, capitalized letters that are easily noticeable from other titles. In Harper’s, too, more space is given around the title to draw more attention to this particular story, using the space to specify the author and his relevant works, and to directly state that the story is “Printed from the Author’s Manuscript” and “RICHLY ILLUSTRATED”. Very much like All the Year Round, Harper’s Weekly sought to commodify its installations of The Moonstone using this claim to authenticity. Perhaps because of the distance between England and the United States, Wilkie Collins is not only named in the first installation of his story, but in all of them, so as not only to rely on the reputation of his previous works. To emphasize the richly illustrated version of The Moonstone in Harper’s, the recognizable title is followed immediately with a large illustration of Ezra Jennings and Franklin Blake as they look poised to make a discovery which has long eluded the reader throughout their journey through the story. It is the illustrations which have the most active role in sensationalizing stories in periodicals. Though the Victorians in England may have considered Americans less intelligent, and so in need of illustrations, these illustration would have been quite expensive to include. As Harper’s Weekly was “one of the most widely circulated American literary magazines of the period” (Leighton and Surridge 208), the publication would have been quite influential and would have had the budget to invest in its stories and advertisements. Rather than this incriminating the Americans for being less intelligent, this is a testament to the success and prosperity of literature in the United States.