The Author
Three days before, the weather had been wild and the sailing ship Georgiana plunged through stormy seas. On this day in April 1829, however, the weather turned fair and calm as the captain of the Georgiana was presented with a son. The Thompsons, captain husband and wife, came from seafaring families and the Georgiana was their home and house. For the newest member of the crew, though, things would be quite different.
The baby was christened at sea and his godfather was a young man on board whose names were bestowed on the baby: D’Arcy Wentworth. (That the godfather was of the Fitzwilliam family, that the ship was the Georgiana, and that the name given to the newborn was D’Arcy is exquisitely humorous to one who enjoyed Pride and Prejudice!) A Wikipedia article suggests the baby was named for a D’Arcy Wentworth transported to Botany Bay to escape conviction for highway robbery, but the family tale is that the namesake was a young man and in 1829 the highwayman Wentworth would have been 67 – if he hadn’t been dead for two years!
At age six our author was sent to a London charitable school and stayed there for twelve years; the tale of being sent from home begins his book. After graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1852 he was classical master at the Edinburgh Academy, where his pupils included one Robert Louis Stevenson and where he gathered the ideas for Day Dreams. He married in 1859 – his son (of the same name and greater fame) was born a year later. In 1863, the year before Day Dreams was published, he moved to Ireland, where he took the Chair of Greek at Queen’s College, Galway. He was active and teaching up to his death, when he “dropped dead by the wayside”* on the way home from giving a lecture.
Considered a remarkable man by those who knew him, he published several books but his reputation now rests mainly on Day Dreams. The book begins as a humorous description of his own schooling and experience as a teacher before moving on to describe some very modern ideas about teaching (including a plea for better education for women).
It is interesting that his book was produced by Edinburgh companies when at that time he lived in Ireland. Presumably his contacts from his time teaching in Edinburgh meant he had the means of publishing there (some of his later books were published by the same publisher), or perhaps the deal was organised before he went to Ireland. The book itself was written in Edinburgh.
The baby was christened at sea and his godfather was a young man on board whose names were bestowed on the baby: D’Arcy Wentworth. (That the godfather was of the Fitzwilliam family, that the ship was the Georgiana, and that the name given to the newborn was D’Arcy is exquisitely humorous to one who enjoyed Pride and Prejudice!) A Wikipedia article suggests the baby was named for a D’Arcy Wentworth transported to Botany Bay to escape conviction for highway robbery, but the family tale is that the namesake was a young man and in 1829 the highwayman Wentworth would have been 67 – if he hadn’t been dead for two years!
At age six our author was sent to a London charitable school and stayed there for twelve years; the tale of being sent from home begins his book. After graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1852 he was classical master at the Edinburgh Academy, where his pupils included one Robert Louis Stevenson and where he gathered the ideas for Day Dreams. He married in 1859 – his son (of the same name and greater fame) was born a year later. In 1863, the year before Day Dreams was published, he moved to Ireland, where he took the Chair of Greek at Queen’s College, Galway. He was active and teaching up to his death, when he “dropped dead by the wayside”* on the way home from giving a lecture.
Considered a remarkable man by those who knew him, he published several books but his reputation now rests mainly on Day Dreams. The book begins as a humorous description of his own schooling and experience as a teacher before moving on to describe some very modern ideas about teaching (including a plea for better education for women).
It is interesting that his book was produced by Edinburgh companies when at that time he lived in Ireland. Presumably his contacts from his time teaching in Edinburgh meant he had the means of publishing there (some of his later books were published by the same publisher), or perhaps the deal was organised before he went to Ireland. The book itself was written in Edinburgh.
The Publisher
The publishers of Day Dreams were initially part of Thomas Constable’s printing and publishing firm. In 1860 he sold it to Messers. Edmonston & Douglas, who continued to use Constable as a printer. They published in a wide variety of topics, but the core of their work was Scottish works and authors.
I have found no records as to why they chose to publish this particular book, but it seems it must have been a good move on their part as the book was popular enough to warrant multiple printings and was later taken on by other publishers.
I have found no records as to why they chose to publish this particular book, but it seems it must have been a good move on their part as the book was popular enough to warrant multiple printings and was later taken on by other publishers.
The Printer
T. Constable as a company had a complicated history following one particular family. In the 18th century David Willison set up a printing business. Archibald Constable married his daughter and worked as a bookseller, getting Willison to print his book catalogues. Later, Constable set himself up as a publisher with his dad-in-law doing the printing. In 1833 Thomas Constable, son of Archibald and grandson of Willison, took over the printing business under the name T. Constable. In 1839 Thomas was appointed Her Majesty’s Printer and Publisher in Edinburgh (basically a monopoly on publishing government items like Acts of Parliament). In the mid 1860s, some time after this book was printed, Thomas Constable took on his son Archibald as a partner and the firm became T. & A. Constable. Originally most of the printing was done for Scottish publishers, but from 1853 they did work for London publishers as well. The firm merged with Robinson Publishing in 1999 to make Constable & Robinson Ltd, so they’re still going today.
Only when all these people had come into agreement could the production of Day Dreams begin.
For more information see:
Clifford Dobell (1949). D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson. 1860-1948. Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, 6 (18), 599-617. http://www.jstor.org/stable/768942
Biography of D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s son (also named D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson) but with information about his father.
D'Arcy Thompson's family. http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Extras/DArcy_family.html
A short history of D’Arcy Thompson’s family.
Brake, L. Demoor, M. (eds). (2009) Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Journalism: In Great Britain and Ireland. Academia Press, p139.
Information about the firm T. Constable.
Anon (1937). Brief Notes on the Origins of T. & A. Constable Ltd. http://scottishprintarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/T-A-Constable1.pdf
A history of the firm T. &. A. Constable.
Clifford Dobell (1949). D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson. 1860-1948. Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, 6 (18), 599-617. http://www.jstor.org/stable/768942
Biography of D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s son (also named D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson) but with information about his father.
D'Arcy Thompson's family. http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Extras/DArcy_family.html
A short history of D’Arcy Thompson’s family.
Brake, L. Demoor, M. (eds). (2009) Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Journalism: In Great Britain and Ireland. Academia Press, p139.
Information about the firm T. Constable.
Anon (1937). Brief Notes on the Origins of T. & A. Constable Ltd. http://scottishprintarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/T-A-Constable1.pdf
A history of the firm T. &. A. Constable.