Trilbyana: The Rise and Progress of a Popular NovelGilder, Joseph Benson
History
Trilbyana: The Rise and Progress of a Popular Novel
Gilder, Joseph Benson
Du Maurier, George, 1834-1896. Trilby
Mr. C. W. Coleman, Librarian of William and Mary College, writes from
Williamsburg, Va., to say that I am in error in supposing that the
bootmakers of this wide-wake country have not yet seized the name of du
Maurier's heroine for advertising purposes. In his note of correction he
encloses a clipping from the catalogue of a Chicago house, containing a
picture of a high-heeled ladies' shoe, flanked by an advertisement of
"'The Trilby,' price $3, postage 15 cts.--'an ornament to any foot,'"
etc. And I hear that the shop-windows of Norfolk, Va., fairly bristle
with shoes of this brand. Moreover, a bootmaker's advertisement in the
Pittsburg _Post_ shows (as a punning Pennsylvania correspondent writes
to me) that "Trilby has obtained a foothold even in the Iron City."
According to the advertisement, "this enterprising firm offer to the
lady sending in the most accurate dimensions according to the diagram
above, together with a drawn outline of the nude foot on paper, a
handsome pair of the highest grade 'Trilby' shoe, which they will have
made up especially for the winner. This stylish foot adornment for
Pittsburgh's model feet will be satin or silk lined throughout, of the
finest quality kid and best workmanship. Bear in mind, ladies, it need
not be the smallest feet that win, but the most perfect form of a foot
from a standpoint of proportionate measurements." ("The Lounger," 13
April, 1895.)
* * * * *
G. A. D. writes from Philadelphia to deplore the Quaker City's
vulgarization of the name and fame of Trilby; and in justification of
his plaint encloses a Chestnut Street dealer's advertisement of the
"Trilby Sausage"! This, it is claimed, "is something new, and fills a
long-felt want"; "they melt in your mouth." They don't melt in G. A.
D.'s mouth, but they rankle in his æsthetic soul. "What next?" he
exclaims; "an Ophelia tooth-wash, a Duchess of Towers garbage-pail!" Our
correspondent has not yet heard of the "Trilby Ham." This, if anything,
is worse than the Sausage. It has been heard of in this city; whether or
no it originated here, I do not care to inquire. But in an Eighth Avenue
dime-museum, there are "Twenty Trilbys," and visitors vote for the
handsomest! Moreover, we have now the "Trilby Hearth-brush"; and huge
posters on the East Side announce a picnic of the "Trilby Coterie and
Chowder Club."
* * * * *
_The Evening Post_ reprints from James Braid's "Observations of Trance"
(1850, page 43) the following paragraph, which is of singular interest
in connection with the novel which has made such an extraordinary
sensation in this country during the past year, and has become as great
a success on the stage as in book-form. Svengali's transformation
of a girl with no ear for music into a singer of marvellous powers seems
to have been almost paralleled in real life, half a century ago:--
[Illustration: DU MAURIER'S HOUSE.
HAMPSTEAD HEATH.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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