The Mystery of Edwin Drood was an unfinished series written by Charles Dickens during the Victorian period, right before his death. Dickens only finished half of the story before his death and left no plans for the later parts. This is why the exhibited final volume has a printed sticker indicating a price increase (compare Fig. 1 and exhibited book): the publishers decided to capitalise on his death and thus sold it at a much higher price.
Fig. 1: Cover page of Volume II held by NTU, with vol no. and date of publication
However, in light of the theme of this section of the exhibition, it is the books’ printed inserts that interest us, and there are two types: advertisements and illustrations. The former in particular are very prevalent, because they were the publisher’s main source of profit: advertisements were used to defray the costs of printing and distributing the books. This is especially true for this series since all the books had elaborate illustrations. At the time, printing illustrations was incredibly expensive, mainly because they required so much ink to print that better-quality, more expensive paper was needed – and paper already made up at least half of printing costs at the time [1]. So, to further maximise profit, advertisements were printed very cheaply. This can be seen from the cheap paper (see Fig. 2.1) and how some pages are not properly centred (see Fig. 2.2).
Fig. 2.1: Blatant ghosting, in which text shows through from one side to the other, shows very thin, cheap paper quality
Fig. 2.2: printing not properly centred on page (borders do not match up with page edges)
However, some consideration did seem to go into the advertisements’ placement. As mentioned in the exhibition summary, volume I’s advertisement section was at the book’s center (see Fig. 3.1). Since it was inserted right in the middle of the scene, this would have severely disrupted reading flow. Presumably this irritated readers, because throughout the rest of the series the advertisements shifted to the books’ beginnings, before the story (see Fig. 3.2). From volume III onwards, an additional advertisement section was also added to the back (see Fig. 3.3), probably because the series’ – or Dickens’ – popularity meant that more advertisements were sent in to the publishers. Either way, from this shift in advertisement placement, it can be inferred that publishers had to make changes to the way they arranged their books’ contents to enhance reading experience, and so cater to their reader purchasers.
Fig. 3.1: Volume I’s ad section in middle of book
Fig. 3.2: Volume II’s ad section starting right after cover page
Fig. 3.3: Volume III’s ad section at back of book
The change in illustration placement, however, seems to cater to a different issue. While volumes I and II have illustrations inserted at the appropriate scene (see Figs. 4.1, 4.2), the rest have their illustrations directly after the beginning advertisements (see Fig. 4.3). Considering the former placement would enhance reader experience, why the change?
Fig. 4.1: line corresponding to illustration
Fig. 4.2: illustration on next page
Fig. 4.3: both illustrations placed after beginning ad section in volume III
This change was probably to cut down on time. Finding the right scene to insert the illustrations for all copies of each volume would have been incredibly time-consuming – and thereby reduce the number of copies the publisher could sell. Thus, it seems quite likely that this change in illustration placement was meant to serve the publisher’s interests more than readers’, since it does diminish the latter’s possible reading experience.
In conclusion, this series is thus important for this exhibition theme: through changing and standardising the placement of advertisement and illustration inserts, the former for readers’ benefits and the latter for the publisher’s benefits, one is able to see that the object of the book is in fact very malleable, in ways that may or may not detract from the author’s original message by changing its reading experience.
References
[1] Eliot, Simon. “Half the cost of a book”. Oxford University Press blog (OUPblog), 30 Jan. 2014, par. 1, blog.oup.com/2014/01/paper-cost-printed-book-publishing/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2021.
Prepared by Ng Shao Yi