The Moonstone (Text)

The Moonstone (Text)

This section of "The Moonstone" is placed in between Harper's many visual reminders of the prominence of the letter, and it promotes the book as being "Richly Illustrated", which furthers draws the reader's eye towards the story. The mention of the "morsel of paper" (Collins 110) now falls on the third column of the text and is situated right above the picture provided by the magazine. The reader will continue to see the epistolary trend in their printed copy as they enjoy the newest chapter and as they continue on they will continue to recognize, and associate positively with, the continuous propaganda in support of the postal system. Whether this was done to highlight Wilkie Collins’ previously established theme of the vitality of the letter, or whether it’s for Harper’s Weekly to promote is own optimistic views of a letter dependent society remains unsure. But the connection between the written word and the visual image is very strong throughout this edition of the periodical as it can be seen not only here, where Collins' words are tied in with journal's representation of his plot, but also in the connection between the visual image of the letter, and physical copy it would represent in the lives of the Nineteenth-Century Americans.

Archives and Special Collections

Calgary: University of Calgary

Semchuk, Sydney

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

English

Text

Print Publication