Howe, Haliburton, Bentley, and the Clockmaker
Howe, Haliburton, Bentley and The Clockmaker
Before his tenure as the 5th Nova Scotia Premier, Joseph Howe purchased and ran Halifax’s weekly NovaScotian. Encouraged by the popularity of Thomas Chandler Haliburton’s Recollections of Nova Scotia, which ran as a series of sketches in the newspaper, Howe ordered thirty-three sketches in order to publish the first and only British North American edition of The Clockmaker. Initially, the relationship between Howe and Haliburton was cordial and collaborative. On financial dealings concerning The Clockmaker, printed in 1836 in the NovaScotian, Howe announced that the series was “to be published on our own account solely” (Haliburton xxvii); in the same issue, Haliburton expressed his appreciation for Howe’s endeavour: "If there be any little credit [. . . ] if there be any little emolument, it belongs of right to him, who has already had the trouble of publishing a great part of them [the sketches] gratuitously" (Haliburton xxviii). These pleasant reciprocities seem to have ended there however, as Howe experienced turbulence in his role as publisher. Howe was an inadequate agent, unable to successfully conduct negotiations with overseas publishers. Furthermore, he mishandled the business’s finances, over-estimating Nova Scotians’ interest and investment in The Clockmaker; though the sketches were indeed successful, Howe did not take into consideration the province’s economic state at the time. (Parker 87) Such matters strained the relationship between the two Nova Scotians, and eventually Haliburton seized the opportunity to publish The Clockmaker series in collaboration with the English publisher Richard Bentley, without informing Howe, bringing much expressed frustration to Howe over the next five years. In March 1837, only three months after it’s Canadian debut, Bentley published the first, and unauthorized, British edition of The Clockmaker (Panofsky 31). Very soon following the British North American
Before his tenure as the 5th Nova Scotia Premier, Joseph Howe purchased and ran Halifax’s weekly NovaScotian. Encouraged by the popularity of Thomas Chandler Haliburton’s Recollections of Nova Scotia, which ran as a series of sketches in the newspaper, Howe ordered thirty-three sketches in order to publish the first and only British North American edition of The Clockmaker. Initially, the relationship between Howe and Haliburton was cordial and collaborative. On financial dealings concerning The Clockmaker, printed in 1836 in the NovaScotian, Howe announced that the series was “to be published on our own account solely” (Haliburton xxvii); in the same issue, Haliburton expressed his appreciation for Howe’s endeavour: "If there be any little credit [. . . ] if there be any little emolument, it belongs of right to him, who has already had the trouble of publishing a great part of them [the sketches] gratuitously" (Haliburton xxviii). These pleasant reciprocities seem to have ended there however, as Howe experienced turbulence in his role as publisher. Howe was an inadequate agent, unable to successfully conduct negotiations with overseas publishers. Furthermore, he mishandled the business’s finances, over-estimating Nova Scotians’ interest and investment in The Clockmaker; though the sketches were indeed successful, Howe did not take into consideration the province’s economic state at the time. (Parker 87) Such matters strained the relationship between the two Nova Scotians, and eventually Haliburton seized the opportunity to publish The Clockmaker series in collaboration with the English publisher Richard Bentley, without informing Howe, bringing much expressed frustration to Howe over the next five years. In March 1837, only three months after it’s Canadian debut, Bentley published the first, and unauthorized, British edition of The Clockmaker (Panofsky 31). Very soon following the British North American
Bibliography: Beck, J. Murray. Joseph Howe. Kingston: Queen’s University Press, 1982. Bentley, Richard. “Notions of Sam Slick.” Bentley’s Miscellany. Vol. XIV. London: Richard Bentley, 1843. 81-94. Davies, Richard A. Inventing Sam Slick: A Biography of Thomas Chandler Haliburton. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. - - -. Ed. The Letters of Thomas Chandler Haliburton. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988. Gross, Robert A. "Books, Nationalism and History." Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 36.2 (1998). Haliburton, Thomas Chandler. “The Clockmaker”. Ed. George L. Parker. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1995. Panofsky, Ruth. "The Publication of Thomas Chandler Haliburton 's The Clockmaker, 1st Series." Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 30.2 (1992): 21-37 Parker, George L. "Another Look at Haliburton and His Publishers Joseph Howe and Richard Bentley: The Colonial Author and His Milieu." The Thomas Chandler Haliburton Symposium. Ed. Frank M. Tierney. Ottawa: U of Ottawa P, 1985. 83-92. Tierney, Frank, ed. The Thomas Chandler Haliburton Symposium. Vol. 11. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1985.