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Post by jxoliphant on Nov 19, 2013 23:02:54 GMT
Welcome to the Margaret Oliphant Forum, for fans of Mrs Oliphant and users of the Margaret Oliphant Fiction Collection. To leave comments or questions, please enter a Quick Reply at the bottom of this page.* *There is no registration requirement, though joining this board has the advantage that you can be notified whenever there is new activity on the board; and also you can exchange private messages with other members.
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Post by jxoliphant on Mar 20, 2014 2:26:19 GMT
As of late March 2014, the site is up and running. If you are new to the Margaret Oliphant Fiction Collection, you may want to start by briefly checking each link at the top of the Homepage. Then select the All Fiction link, and select some of the novels and stories. Be sure to page down to the bottom of each one, to see biographical notes and associated series and themes. Then return to the top of the page, and select the Series or Themes link, and view some of these. These steps will give you a good overview. Hope you enjoy it - let us know what you think!
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Post by dpaust on May 6, 2014 4:25:15 GMT
I love Margaret Oliphant's fiction and I have downloaded most of her fiction onto my kindle, mostly from the internet archive, although the format is only just readable on a lot of these, so I would like to be able to read her books from your website. I really love your website, but being in Australia google books blocks me from reading most of these when I click on read now on your links to her books. I have absolutely no idea why, because surely these books would all be in the public domain. I think about the only piece of major fiction I couldn't find at all is That Little Cutty. I really had some trouble with some, I can tell you.
I found Lady Car in it's original serial form in Longman's magazine and I found online books at the Bodleian Library for The Melvilles (3 volumes) and Christian Melville. If anyone needs help in tracking down all of these, I can certainly help, having been through it myself. But in the meantime, is there any way you can make links readable here in Australia, ot do you know of some way I can manage this myself? Thanks, David.
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Post by jxoliphant on May 6, 2014 19:36:04 GMT
Thank you David, and welcome to the Forum. The issue may be how to download from Google Books, as that option is hidden. There are now instructions on the Help page.
[Note added later: it turned out the issue was that Google Books was not available in some countries outside the USA, or was only partially available. Over time the Oliphant website added a second set of links which are available anywhere in the world. Then in 2015 the many 19th century books on Google Books which had not been available to the UK or Australia became available there - and hopefully elsewhere too. This change had to do with copyright issues being resolved.]
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Post by Amy on Jun 17, 2014 21:37:46 GMT
Thank you for the effort you've put into this site! I am a fan of Mrs. Oliphant's work, which I "discovered' after running out of Austen, Dickens and Gaskell, and while digging into Trollope. I'm always googling her and l don't know why today is the first time I've come across your site, but I' m bookmarking it so I won't lose you. It is so much fun learning about the Victorian era, manners, vocabulary, history, and everyday life through all the 19th century writers, and her novels are the most chock full of yummy details. Don't you wish the BBC would tackle the Carlingford novels?
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Post by jxoliphant on Jun 27, 2014 4:03:47 GMT
Thank you, Amy, and welcome to the Forum. Perhaps if we all write to the BBC they will take note of Mrs Oliphant - a series would be wonderful! A fourth new story, "New Year's Day", has just been discovered by an Oliphant fan, Alan John, and will be added to the website by 29th June. All four recently discovered stories will now be grouped under Short Fiction. Also as of the 29th there will be a Website Change Log available on the About page and on the Help page, as a way of sharing information about recent changes and additions to the site.
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Post by dpaust on Jul 8, 2014 6:19:06 GMT
I don't know if you intend putting up Margaret Oliphant's non-fiction eventually, but I just found an interesting book called Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's Reign, which contains articles by some of the top women writers of the day about other top women writers of the day. I don't know if you were aware of this book. It contains the following articles.
The Bronte Sisters by Mrs Oliphant George Eliot by Mrs Lynn Linton Mrs Gaskell by Edna Lyall Mrs Crowe, Mrs Archer Clive and Mrs Henry Wood by Adeline Sargeant Lady Georgiana Fullerton, Mrs Stretton and Anne Manning by Charlotte M Yonge Dinah Mulock (Mrs Craik) by Mrs Parr Julia Kavanagh and Amelia Blanchford Edwards by Mrs McQuoid Mrs Norton by Mrs Alexander "A.L.O.E" (Miss Tucker) by Mrs Marshall
Mrs Oliphant's article is nowhere near as comprehensive, of course, as Elizabeth Gaskell's "Life of Charlotte Bronte", but still worth a look. I find it fascinating that I thought I was pretty well up on Women writers of the Victorian era, but there are some names here, that are new to me, and I will certainly be following them up. If any one is interested, you can find the book at Project Gutenberg.
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Post by dpaust on Jul 9, 2014 6:55:41 GMT
I was wondering if you could possibly note which books are illustrated when you get some time. I like getting the illustrated copies when I can and if I can find an illustrated copy, I would prefer to download that in place of the copy I already have.
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Post by Lucy on Jul 9, 2014 10:10:30 GMT
What a marvellous website! Oliphant fans might like to know that this week BBC Radio4extra (a station that specialises in repeats of BBC drama and comedy) is broadcasting a wonderful dramatization of the Carlingford Chronicles starring the late great Elizabeth Spriggs. You can listen online or on iplayer if you don't have access to UK digital radio.
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Post by jxoliphant on Jul 10, 2014 8:20:41 GMT
Thank you, Lucy, and welcome to the Forum. For anyone interested in BBC Radio 4's Miss Marjoribanks, here is the link to the episodes. Part 1 has "7 days left to listen". www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00l847h/episodes/guide(I hear that Phoebe, Junior and Hester were broadcast in 2013 but are not available for replay.) Per David's comments above: I do have the book, and found the Bronte chapter interesting. Regarding other lesser known Victorian novelists, Anne Thackeray Ritchie is definitely worth reading, even if her gift is not as great as Margaret Oliphant's. My own favourite novel of hers is Mrs Dymond. Fanny Trollope wrote at least two entertaining novels, Petticoat Government and The Widow Barnaby. Going back further in time, two pre-Victorian novelists who were contemporaries of Jane Austen are Maria Edgeworth and Susan Ferrier. Their styles are less modern, and thus perhaps less readable than Jane Austen's, but many readers will still enjoy them. I am especially fond of Helen and Belinda by Edgeworth. David, per your request to note which of the Oliphant novels on the website have illustrations, unfortunately I cannot think of any off the top of my head, except the children's book Agnes Hopetoun. (In some cases the pictures shown on the webpages are illustrations from the magazine serials.)
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Post by jxoliphant on Jul 10, 2014 20:52:18 GMT
Google books has two illustrated Oliphant novels: A Rose in June and The Three Brothers. Some ebooks on google books are accessible outside the USA, and others are not. For anyone unable to download one or both of these, please email me at jxoliphant@gmail.com, and I will send them to you. (Ditto any other ebooks on google which you cannot access.)
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Post by dpaust on Jul 10, 2014 22:46:07 GMT
I knew about A Rose in June. What is especially interesting about this edition is that the illustrations were done by George du Maurier, who of course, was a pretty good writer himself, the most famous of his novels arguably Trilby, and father of Daphne du Maurier. I was, of course, aware of George du Maurier as a writer, but had no idea he was such a talented artist as well.
The reason I asked about the illustrations, is because of your previous email re having to find another source for Old Lady Mary, after the British Library removed theirs from Google Books due to copyright reasons, when checking I found your new source is an illustrated edition and I was just hoping there was some way of knowing without having to go through all the books again, but I need to do that anyway, as a lot of the books I downloaded onto my kindle in MOBI format and the internet archives converter isn't very good as it has a lot of spelling errors, so I will need to re-download them in PDF format.
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Post by dpaust on Jul 28, 2014 0:04:14 GMT
Great news! Delphi Classics has just announced their Series Five, among which Margaret Oliphant is included. I really hope this is a comprehensive collection. I have good expectations, as Delphi Classics usually are very thorough. It is really nice seeing her work recognised in this manner.
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 11, 2014 19:10:38 GMT
A beautiful fully-illustrated edition of Cousin Mary is now available on the website.
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 17, 2014 23:25:53 GMT
Some additional links have been added. To learn about the changes, please select Help (top of page on the Oliphant site), and then select Change Log (under number 1). Feedback always appreciated!
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 21, 2014 7:12:17 GMT
More links have been added, to enable people not in the USA to access certain novels and stories. (To view changes, select the Change Log as described above.) This task should be completed by October 2014.
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 27, 2014 3:08:50 GMT
A third set of links have been added. Please see the Change Log for details, as described above.
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Post by jxoliphant on Oct 23, 2014 6:18:22 GMT
All of Margaret Oliphant's works should now be available in all countries. The remaining few links were added to the website this evening. (Please contact us if anything has been overlooked.) The additions for October are listed in the Change Log, which can also be accessed from the Help page or About page. Sometime in November two articles will be available on the Help page, for people new to downloading, and/or new to tablets: "How to Download Oliphant Works" and "Shopping for a Tablet". Thanks very much to everyone for your comments and emails!
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Post by jxoliphant on Dec 3, 2014 5:06:24 GMT
Tonight added three short user guides to the Help page: "How to download and read ebooks from Oliphantfiction.com", "Tips for buying a tablet for reading PDF ebooks", and "Tablet hand gestures". These are for anyone new to downloading, and/or new to tablets. Also learned that the link for the Autobiography and Letters (see About page) was not available to everybody. The links now point to a new copy on Internet Archive, which is available to all countries.
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Post by Felicity on Jan 9, 2015 12:22:11 GMT
What a fantastic site. Just discovered it. Thank you for all this hard work. Marvellous to have the novels collected together! What an indefatigable and varied writer Oliphant is!
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Post by jxoliphant on Jan 12, 2015 6:04:22 GMT
Thank you, Felicity, and welcome to the Forum!
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Post by jxoliphant on Jun 24, 2015 4:16:59 GMT
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Post by Ruellia on Aug 9, 2015 15:54:52 GMT
This is a fabulous site and I am so excited to have access to more of Margaret Oliphant's works.
Two other Victorian writers I have found recently are May Laffan, a wonderful Irish writer, whose Christie Carew and Flitters, Tatters, and the Counsellor can be found in Google Books, and John Ackworth, whose stories of Methodist communities in small mill villages are fascinating and extremely well told.
I loved Oliphant's Old Lady Mary, A Beleaguered City, The Open Door, and The Portrait, and I am now reading The Library Window. I mean to read some of her criticism. Is there a way to find her review of Pater's Renaissance? Ruellia
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 9, 2015 22:57:24 GMT
Thank you Ruellia, and welcome to the Forum! The review was in Blackwood's Magazine in November 1873 under the title "New Books". Here are the specifics:
"New Books" Blackwood's Magazine 114 (Nov 1873), pages 596-617. A preamble about poetry, painting and music. Rev. of Children in Italian and English Design, by Sidney Colvin; Studies in the History of the Renaissance, by W(alter) H. Pater; Music and Morals, by Rev. H.K. Haweis; Alcestis (anonymous novel); Sketches and Essays from The Saturday Review.
This information comes from John Stock Clarke's wonderful bibliography (one of three), Margaret Oliphant Non-Fiction Bibliography, whose link is on the "About" page of the Oliphant website. Volume 114 can be found by searching in Internet Archive on: blackwood's magazine 1873.
I haven't read the authors you mention and look forward to dipping into them. It's great when people on the Forum share information on other 19th century writers. Someone wrote me recently who is a Mary Shelley fan, recommending especially Lodore.
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 9, 2015 23:24:18 GMT
At the end of July some new information was added to the Oliphant website - see the Change Log (which can also be accessed from the Help page or About page).
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Post by Ruellia on Aug 11, 2015 3:33:15 GMT
Thank you so much for the information on the Pater review. I would love to read Oliphant's critique! I just finished reading two of Oliphant's short stories, The Library Window, which is a gorgeous thing which completely gripped me, really hypnotic in its effect with all the fading light and dim shadowy interiors, and The Golden Rule, which is brilliant. I thought the first part of the Golden Rule was just the standard Victorian set up so I was getting restless--then I read part II of the story which goes off like a bomb! I had just finished Trollope's Harry Hotspur, which makes reading Part 2 of the Golden Rule and all that it implies about female agency that much more powerful. I was still under the illusion that part I was standard Victorian set up, but then I reread it and I saw the foreshadowings and wicked ironies all over the place, like the Easter Eggs Apple used to hide in software that leap out when you know where to look. It is an amazing short story, and now I am thinking of Emily and her father in Harry Hotspur in a completely different way. The Golden Rule is one of the short stories in Other Short Fiction, oliphantfiction.com/x0200_single_title.php?titlecode=golrulThe thing about Margaret Oliphant's writing is that you cannot put it down. I unwisely dipped into Merkland, just to take a small sample of what an early novel of hers might be like, and now I cannot stop reading it. Thanks so much for this wonderful site! Ruellia
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 13, 2015 4:58:13 GMT
"The Golden Rule" reminds me of something amusing Anthony Trollope wrote in The Belton Estate: "The theory of man and wife—that special theory in accordance with which the wife is to bend herself in loving submission before her husband, is very beautiful; and would be good altogether if it could only be arranged that the husband should be the stronger and the greater of the two. The theory is based upen that hypothesis ;— and the hypothesis sometimes fails of confirmation. In ordinary marriages the vessel rights itself, and the stronger and the greater takes the lead, whether clothed in petticoats, or in coat, waistcoat, and trousers . . . ."
For Ruellia and others who appreciate Mrs Oliphant's "wicked ironies", I think you would enjoy the Carlingford series, especially the very funny Miss Marjoribanks, which though it is 6th in the series is a stand-alone novel.
PS - I thought I had read everything of Trollope's, but did not know Sir Harry, and just finished reading it. What a devastating character study. The ending took me by surprise, but I won't say more, lest I spoil it for other readers.
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Post by Ruellia on Aug 14, 2015 1:33:19 GMT
That is such a great quote from Trollope's The Belton Estate, which I did not remember. The older brewer in Rachel Ray, and the hard drinking impecunious captain in Can You Forgive Her would be examples of men Trollope thought were better off submitting to their wives.
To me, Harry Hotspur has the same theme as Trollope's Cousin Henry, in that both center on fathers/uncles who care about the young women they are responsible for, but who at times put family property first. The family land has become a sacred duty, and even the people they truly love are seen as secondary, superseded by or even sacrificed to the land. In both stories, the property bequeathers are kind-hearted and come to regret putting the land first.
Emily Hotspur is kept away from young men so that she does not learn to evaluate them or to know their tricks and ways. She is taught that the way to protect herself from rogues is to trust her father's judgment and to submit to his decisions. Her father does not share his deliberations or knowledge with her and keeps her in the dark. So when she falls for George she views him as a god and glories in her surrender to him and to his wishes. She has been trained all her life to submit to others and obey. Whereas Miss Boldero in The Golden Rule has been given a lot of opportunity to come in contact with and deal with a variety of people. She has been encouraged to develop and to use her own judgment with eyes open. Her father shares his knowledge of the world and of people with her, and on many decisions they deliberate together, with her father sometimes taking her advice. So her ability to judge has been strengthened by practice in dealing with people and their deficiencies. When her father is urged to keep information secret from her and to make a decision about her future without her knowledge or participation, Mr. Boldero rejects this as unfair and harmful to her rather than protective or beneficial. To me the story is a vivid illustration of how the Victorian "protection" of young unmarried women weakened their capacity to judge, to deal with people, and to protect themselves--and how this lack of knowledge fed dangerously unrealistic daydreams.
I think the way The Golden Rule unfolds is brilliant. I do have some grumbles about The Library Window, especially the ending or coda/non-ending (I have been tinkering in my head with alternative ones). But it has such tension and suspense and all those hypnotic passages about fading light, shadowy presences, and dimly seen interiors.
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 14, 2015 6:08:52 GMT
Poor Emily was indeed kept in the dark. Her choices also reflect her individual personality, that kind of passive person who is very stubborn underneath. Even in our supposedly enlightened age there are still a few who shut their eyes to reality, close their ears to information, and insist on the prince and the castle.
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Post by jxoliphant on Aug 14, 2015 22:06:56 GMT
The vast majority of Margaret Oliphant's female central characters are bright and active; and they develop the necessary skills to fend for themselves and their loved ones. But Mrs O was also empathetic toward those young women who are more passive by nature and by nurture, such as Rose in A Rose in June and Effie in Effie Ogilvy, each of whom lets the wrong things happen rather than stand up for herself. There is also Lily in Sir Robert's Fortune, who is forced into passivity, victimized by both her uncle and her lover. And there is Helen in "A Maiden's Mind". On the surface the story is about how another girl takes over the man whom Helen has been waiting for for five years. However as indicated by Mrs Oliphant's title, the story's poignancy also results from Helen's dreamy incapacity to take action (for most of the story).
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