Feb. 8, 1868 Literary advertisement - Harper's Weekly

Feb. 8, 1868 Literary advertisement - Harper's Weekly

This advertisement is representative of the foregrounding of facts over fiction in Harper’s Weekly. In contrast to All the Year Round which seeks to instruct through fiction, Harper’s Weekly chooses to instruct by advertising a piece of literature that has to be purchased and consumed elsewhere. This piece also takes care to note that “the fidelity of [the author’s] statements [were] confirmed”. This emphasizes the magazine’s concern with the presentation of viable facts to its viewers as proving the literature worthy of promotion and consumption. This makes the exaggeration of the Moonstone image even more remarkable because of the willingness shown to bend the truth in order to emphasize a material commodity. This advertisement is also careful to name Harper’s as the book publisher. Not only is Paul du Chaillu given credit, but Harper’s is ensured to gain profit as well. The fact that it is a French explorer being censured by English critics showcases another aspect of the literary disparity across cultures. Perhaps it is the fact that it is a Frenchman’s writing that makes the book more suspect in the eyes of British critics who might favor British literary craftsmanship.

Archives and Special Collections

Calgary: University of Calgary

Friesen, Sammi

http://library.ucalgary.ca/copyright/images

English

Print publication