Curiosities of Street Literature

Curiosities of Street Literature

In selecting and arranging this collection of Street Papers for publication, every care has been taken to print them verbatim et literatim. They all bear the printers name and address were such is used, and, in many cases, the wood-cuts have either been borrowed or purchased for the purpose of presenting them in their original style. The real object being to show, in the most genuine state, the character and quality of the productions written expressly for the amusement of the lower orders by street-authors. The general instruction given to our printer has been to set up word for word from copy, with the exception of s pun (sic) and those of a WROng FoNT (?)it being thought quite unnecessary to repeat these convenient and at that time compulsory Errors of the Press and which were very common in former days with the printers and publishers of street and public-house literature; arising alike from a want of skill in the art, a deficiency of capital, and the hurried manner in which they were prepared and worked off to meet the momentary demand. Old Jemmy Catnachwhose name is ever associated with the literature of our streetswas a man who hated innowations, as he used to call improvements, and had a great horror of buying type, because, as he used to observe, he kept no standing formes, and when certain sorts run short, he was not particular, and would tell the boys to use anything which would make a good shift. For instance, he never considered a compositor could be aground for a lowercase l while he had a figure of 1 or a cap. I to fall back upon; by the same rule, the cap. O and figure 0 were synonymous with Jemmy; the lower-case p, b, d, and q, would all do duty for each other in turn, and if they could not always find roman letters to finish a word with, why the compositor knew very well that the reader would not mark out italic. At the time Catnach commenced business. Johnny Pitts,[1] of the Toy and Marble Warehouse, No. 6, Great St. Andrew Street, was the acknowledged and established Printer of Street-Literature for the Dials district; therefore, as may be easily imagined, a powerful rivalry and vindictive jealousy soon arose between these two of a trademost especially on the part of Old Mother Pitts, who is described as being a coarse and vulgar-minded personage, and as having originally followed the trade of a bumboat woman at Portsmouth: she vowed vengeance against the young fellow in the court for daring to set up in their business, and also spoke of him as young Catsnatch, Catblock, Cut-throat, and many other opprobrious terms being freely given to the new comer. Pitts staff of bards were duly cautioned of the consequences which would inevitably follow should they dare to write a line for Catnachthe new cove in the court. The injunction was for a time obeyed, but the Seven Bards of the Dials soon found it not only convenient, but also more profitable to sell copies of their effusions to both sides at the same time, and by keeping their own council they avoided detection, as each printer accused the other of buying an early sold copy, and then reprinting it off with the utmost speed, and which was in reality often the case, as Both Houses had an emissary on the constant look-out for any new production suitable for street-sale. Now, although this style of Double dealing and competition tended much to lessen the cost price to the middle-man, or vendor, the public in this case did not get any of the reduction, as a penny broadside was still a penny, and a quarter sheet still a halfpenny to them, the street-patterer obtaining the whole of the reduction as extra profit. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 49128
Author: Hindley, Charles
Release Date: Jun 3, 2015
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Hindley, Charles, -1893