All the Year Round: Advertisement Page [text]

Unmistakably, the advertisement section of All the Year Round is much different than that of Harper’s. All the Year Round’s exclusion of illustrations in the advertisement section continues to place an emphasis on text alone. Furthermore, the inclusion of only literary advertisements solidifies this emphasis. 

Only two advertisements appear in All the Year Round. One, advertising a “Holiday Romance” and another for “George Silverman’s Explanation.” Notably, both of these texts would appear in All the Year Round itself, and both are written by Charles Dickens, editor of the periodical. Placing emphasis on the text itself underlines the importance of literature in Victorian society, whether intentional or unintentional. The reader is left only to engage with text (and minimal advertisements for more text), giving the literature inside the periodical more significance than it perhaps would with the inclusion of pictures and accompanying advertisements. 

The use of textual emphasis in All the Year Round is also particularly fitting for The Moonstone. The text itself is riddled with letters, correspondences, and the presence of an “editor” (Blake) who overlooks the narratives within the novel. In many ways, the structure of The Moonstone’s narrative mirrors the editorial presence of Charles Dickens in All the Year Round.

Overall, the relationship between editor, writer, and reader is strongly portrayed in this periodical and in The Moonstone. Both Harper’s and All the Year Round must cater to the new, common reader. The preferences and abilities of the masses are taken into account when assembling both materials, making The Moonstone a perfect piece of sensational fiction for the Victorian middle-lower class reader.