The Case of the Initial Letter

Charles Dickens and the politics of the dual alphabet

By: Gavin Edwards, Andrew Smith (Editor), Anna Barton (Editor)

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Hardcover | 28 July 2020

At a Glance

Hardcover
184 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.6 x 13.8 x 1.2

Hardcover

RRP $183.99

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The book analyses attempts by Dickens and other nineteenth-century writers to challenge established ways of using the distinction between upper and lower case letters, in the interests of a wider radicalism. It discusses Dickens's satire - on 'Shares' in Our Mutual Friend, on Paul Dombey's position as the 'Son' of Dombey and Son - alongside the proto-modernist typography of suffragist poet Augusta Webster and the work of Marx's translators transforming German conventions of capitalisation into English under the influence of Dickens and Carlyle. Placing these innovations within the history of the dual alphabet from its invention by Carolingian scribes to its rejection by modernist poets and the Bauhaus printers, the book tracks the dual alphabet through Dickens's manuscripts, corrected proofs, and the 'prompt copies' for his public Readings, highlighting distinct ways in which writing, printing and speech produce meaning. -- .

Industry Reviews

'The Case of the Initial Letter is fundamentally an effort to redress 'the failure of literary critics and cultural historians to accord the dual alphabet the attention that it deserves'. With all the authority that upper-casing can muster, this is a Good Book.'
Amanda Lastoria, Simon Fraser University, SHARP News

'This study of Dickens's career and his experiences with capital letters and reader reception extend superbly to the book's conclusion, which addresses the rise of Modernism.'
Textual Cultures

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