‘Twas in Trafalgar’s Bay And Other Stories by Walter Besant and James Rice

'Twas in Trafalgar’s Bay And Other Stories, written by Walter Besant (1836 –1901) and James Rice (1843 – 1882), was originally published in London around 1879. The book contains four separate stories: ‘Twas in Trafalgar’s Bay, Shepherds All and Maidens Fair, Such a Good Man, and Le Chien D’Or. The price listed on the spine of this book is two shillings. This particular copy is a reprint from 1887, known as a “yellow-back,” and was printed by Chatto & Windus,

Yellow-backs were cheap reprints of popular books, and are so-called because the covers were usually bright yellow. Other features of yellow-backs were their prominent, vivid illustrations on the front cover and large advertisements on the back cover. They were highly common in the mid-Victorian era as literacy rates improved and cheap, popular literature was in demand. Yellow-backs were frequently sold in train stations, and because of their inexpensive price, were popular among rail commuters. Books like these are particularly useful for demonstrating the history of print and the evolution of popular literature.

Chatto & Windus printed yellow-back copies of popular books and sold them cheaply. It was founded by bookseller-publisher John Camden Hotten in 1855 and today Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House UK.

At the back of ‘Twas in Trafalgar’s Bay, there is a list of books sold by Chatto & Windus and their cost. Prices varied from two shillings up to just over seven shillings for individual volumes, with additional cost for cloth boards or books with additional illustrations. The first and last few pages of the book feature advertisements, largely for a variety of medicines of dubious quality.

‘Twas in Trafalgar’s Bay was a gift of William S. Grenzebach ’67, in honor of Professor Philip L. Kintner.

We encourage anyone with an interest to drop by Special Collections and examine this book — or any other books! — in person.

Special Collections and Archive is open to the public 1:30–5 p.m. Monday through Friday and mornings by appointment.