The Diary of a Nobody

by George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith

Overview

The Diary of a Nobody is an English comic novel written by the brothers George and Weedon Grossmith, with illustrations by the latter. It originated as an intermittent serial in Punch magazine in 1888-89 and first appeared in book form, with extended text and added illustrations, in 1892. The Diary records the daily events in the lives of a London clerk, Charles Pooter, his wife Carrie, his son William Lupin, and numerous friends and acquaintances over a period of 15 months.

Before their collaboration on the Diary, the brothers each pursued successful careers on the stage. George originated nine of the principal comedian roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas over 12 years from 1877 to 1889. He also established a national reputation as a piano sketch entertainer and wrote a large number of songs and comic pieces. Before embarking on his stage career, Weedon had worked as an artist and illustrator. The Diary was the brothers' only mature collaboration. Most of its humour derives from Charles Pooter's unconscious and unwarranted sense of his own importance, and the frequency with which this delusion is punctured by gaffes and minor social humiliations. In an era of rising expectations within the lower-middle classes, the daily routines and modest ambitions described in the Diary were instantly recognised by its contemporary readers, and provided later generations with a glimpse of the past that it became fashionable to imitate.

Although its initial public reception was muted, the Diary came to be recognised by critics as a classic work of humour, and it has never been out of print. It helped to establish a genre of humorous popular fiction based on lower or lower-middle class aspirations, and was the forerunner of numerous fictitious diary novels in the later 20th century. The Diary has been the subject of several stage and screen adaptations, including Ken Russell's "silent film" treatment of 1964, a four-part TV film scripted by Andrew Davies in 2007, and a widely praised stage version in 2011, in which an all-male cast of three played all the parts. (Wikipedia.og)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798888307625
Publisher:	Bibliotech Press
Publication date:	03/11/2024
Pages:	138
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Peter Morton is Associate Professor of English at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

George and Weedon Grossmith: A Brief Chronology

A Note on the Text

The Diary of a Nobody

Appendix A: Contemporary Reviews

1. From Baron de B.W. & Co., “Our Booking Office,” Punch, 103 (23 June 1892)
2. From The Saturday Review, 74 (23 June 1892)
3. From The Athenaeum (13 August 1892)
4. From The Literary World, 46 (29 July 1892)
5. From The Speaker, 6 (6 August 1892)
6. From The New York Times (19 December 1892)
7. Publisher’s Note to the “new edition” of 1910 (10 October 1910)
8. From The Bookman [London], 39 (December 1910)
9. From The Bookman [London], 57 (December 1919)
10. From Xanthias, Queen’s Quarterly, 27 (1920)

Appendix B: The Clerk’s Lot in Life

1. From Charles Edward Parsons, Clerks; Their Position and Advancement (1876)
2. From The Clerk:A Sketch in Outline of His Duties and Discipline (1878)
3. From Francis Davenant, Starting in Life: Hints for Parents on the Choice of a Profession or Trade for Their Sons (1881)
4. From The Story of a London Clerk: A Faithful Narrative Faithfully Told (1896)
5. From Charles Booth, ed., Life and Labour of the People in London (1896)
6. From Robert White, “Wanted:A Rowton House for Clerks,” Nineteenth Century, 42 (October 1897)
7. From Shan Bullock, Robert Thorne: The Story of a London Clerk (1907)

Appendix C: Domestic Economy at The Laurels

1. From G.S. Layard, “A Lower Middle-Class Budget,” Cornhill Magazine, 10 (Jan–June 1901)

Appendix D: Suburban Fictions in the Wake of the Diary

1. From R. Andom, Martha and I: Being Scenes from Our Suburban Life (1898)
2. From W. Pett Ridge, Outside the Radius: Stories of a London Suburb (1899)
3. From Barry Pain, Eliza (1900)
4. From Keble Howard, The Smiths of Surbiton: A Comedy without a Plot (1906)

Appendix E: Séances in the Suburbs

1. From Morell Theobald, Spirit Workers in the Home Circle (1887)
2. From Florence Marryat, There Is No Death (1891)
3. From Barry Pain, Eliza Getting On (1911)

Appendix F: Suburban Life and its Critics

1. From Geoffrey Mortimer, The Blight of Respectability (1897)
2. From H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898)
3. From T.W.H. Crosland, The Suburbans (1905)
4. From C.F.G. Masterman, In Peril of Change: Essays Written in Time of Tranquillity (1905)
5. From C.F.G. Masterman, The Condition of England (1909)

Works Cited and Recommended Reading

Editorial Reviews

Although The Diary of a Nobody has never been out of print for over the last hundred years, it has, until now, failed to attract an edition capable of really illuminating its lost social and literary contexts. Peter Morton’s Broadview edition remedies this lack with its excellent introduction, incisive textual annotation, and its comprehensive selection of extracts from background material. This extensive scholarly apparatus, rather than overwhelming the Diary’s comedy, succeeds in breathing new life into an established classic of its genre.” — Jonathan Wild, University Edinburgh

“Finally the Grossmith’s The Diary of a Nobody has an edition worth of its importance. Peter Morton’s introduction, like the secondary materials he has wisely chosen, pays attention to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of readers to see that the Diary for all its notoriety was not a singular phenomenon, but rather part of a flourishing of interest in the lives of clerks and other lower-middle-class figures. This is another fine Broadview edition that will find its home on the bookshelves of scholars, students, and readers of nineteenth-century literature.” — Scott Banville, University of Nevada Reno

From the Publisher

The great thing about Pooter is that he is still lovable in all his self-important absurdity. He always tries to make the best of everything, and although he is a figure of fun, his celebration of a life that leaves little mark upon the world is gently moving.”

Guardian (London)

The idea that this man is one of themselves, but that readers can see what he does not, whilst still feeling benevolently sympathetic towards him—that they are, in some way, superior to their neighbor—provides the most enduring ground for the Diary’s popularity.”

author of The Victorians and the Visual Imaginatio Kate Flint

One of the funniest books ever written.”

British author and screenwriter Andrew Davies

[A] masterpiece of comic irony…Frederick Davidson’s impeccable reading is truly inspired, in perfect unity with the Pooteresque view of the world.”

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