Date: 20-May-1999 12:38pm EDT
From: Rose, Jonathan
JEROSE
Dept: FAC/STAFF
Tel No: (973)-408-3545
TO: Press SH to view recipients.
Subject: Justice for Thomas Tegg!
I'm posting this query for a scholar who does not have access to
this listserv. It concerns the early 19th-century English publisher
Thomas Tegg, who has been saddled with a reputation as an unscrupulous
cheapjack printer. In his day he was widely accused of publishing
mutilated editions of the classics. It was said, for example, that his
printer ran out of paper when he came to Book 10 of *Paradise Lost*, so
Tegg simply told him to end it there and bind it. (This story is repeated
in Richard Altick's *The English Common Reader*.)
But have we any concrete evidence of this? Specifically, can
anyone out there put his or his hands on a Tegg edition of Milton (or any
other author) subjected to that kind of procrustean treatment? Frankly,
we suspect that these rumors were started by competing publishers who
resented Tegg's ability to undercut their wares with cheap books. Perhaps
these accusations were groundless but, through endless repetition, took on
an air of reality.
We would also appreciate knowing about any printed or archival
sources of information about Tegg. Please reply to me at [log in to unmask]
Many thanks,
Jonathan Rose
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