Joseph Pennell: A Canterbury Pilgrimage

Joseph and Elizabeth Pennell had returned to London from Italy to propose an idea for a book to be entitled, "A Canterbury Pilgrimage." As the first paragraph of their story explained: "It was towards the end of August, when a hot sun was softening the asphalt in the dusty streets of London, and ripening the hops in the pleasant land of Kent, that we went on pilgrimage to Canterbury. Ours was no ordinary journey by rail, which is the way latter-day pilgrims mostly travel. No. What we wanted was in all reverence to follow, as far as it was possible, the road taken by the famous company of bygone days, setting out from the hostelrie where these lordings lay one night and held counsel, making stations by the way at the few places they mention by name, and ending it, as they did, at the shrine of the 'holy, blissful martyr,' in the Canterbury Cathedral. How better could this be done than by riding over the ground made sacred by them on our tricycle?"

The 'Century' hesitated to accept it because so much Pennell material was already on hand or ordered. The 'English Illustrated' also refused, but Richard Seely, of Seeley & Company Publishers, was of another mind. He liked the drawings, said he would read the manuscript, and agreed to let us have his decision promptly. Within a fortnight we had it. 

He would bring out the 'Pilgrimage' as a book in a paper cover for a shilling, would have it on all the railway book stalls, would deluge England with it. Better still, he would bring it out immediately. Our excitement was great. Pennell spent hours in the British Museum studying old manuscripts, hunting up appropriate motives for cover design and chapter headings. He would not leave town until the proofs were passed.  By the thirty-first proofs of 'A Canterbury Pilgrimage' were passed for press. 

"A Canterbury Pilgrimage' was published while we were in Winchester, and in Salisbury we got our first notice the first morning when we opened the 'Daily News' and saw the headline, 'The Most Wonderful Shilling's Worth Modern Literature has to Offer.' If 'A Canterbury Pilgrimage' was an immediate success, as it was, this headline undoubtedly  helped to make it one. It appealed to two publics: to the cycling public at a period when cycling was the popular sport; to the scholarly public as a tribute to Chaucer and his Pilgrims. Moreover, paper covers were not as common in England as in France, and these, together with the unusual proportions and design of the book, made it conspicuous on railway bookstalls and in bookshop windows. The price, one shilling, attracted a larger public. Letters poured in upon us, from friends and strangers alike. We made a hit, no mistake, and it was great fun."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Life and Letters fo Joseph Pennell" by Elizabeth Robins Pennell.)