A little bit of print-fratching.

Apparently, the more, eh, substantial post for this week didn't want to sort itself out. However. I did want to share this; part of the somewhat epic print battle between Richardson and bookseller Richard Chandler over the continuation-to-be of Pamela and John Kelly's Pamela's Conduct (as mentioned in last week's report, yes).

For a bit of a rehash, basic story being that after the first two volumes Richardson wasn't keen on taking Pamela any further. Kelly and Chandler (among others, though they created the more irksome pain for Richardson), however, saw and grasped the opportunity for continuing the tale of the virtuous Pamela. Appearing to be a, shall we say, legitimate continuation of Pamela, Pamela's Conduct threatened to overthrow Richardson's authority and to bend her story and any of its purported morals to Kelly's liking. As Pamela's Conduct showed signs of staying power, Richardson decided to jump into the ring and whip out a continuation of his own. And as both sides competed for terms of authority, Richardson and Chandler flung accusations back and forth via the wonder of the print.

Thus, this clipping, captioned by Thomas Keymer and Peter Sabor, "The advertising war between Richardson and Chandler, London Evening-Post, 23-5 June 1741."(Click to enlarge, thank yeh.)

And the image itself, as well as the general sense of the account given, have been taken from Keymer and Sabor's Pamela in the Marketplace (see the post linked above for a more complete citation).



(All of this in lieu of an, eh, actual or more substantial post for this week, as that apparently didn't work out quite so well as might have been hoped.)