Ich habe nie geheiratet, weil ich drei Haustiere habe, die dieselbe Funktion erfüllen wie ein Ehemann. Ich habe einen Hund, der jeden Morgen knurrt, einen Papagei, der den ganzen Nachmittag lang flucht, und eine Katze, die nachts spät nach Hause kommt.

brizzle born and bred posted a photo:

Few people remember the Bristol link, but if it wasn’t for the vision of a local publisher, neither book might have made it to the shops.

One was George and Weedon Grossmsith’s classic tale of the suburban Pooter family, Diary of a Nobody. The other was an equally timeless story of a trio of friends meandering down the Thames, called Three Men in a Boat. And both were published as a bold act of faith by J.W Arrowsmith, once better known as a publishers of railway and steam packet timetables.

Arrowsmith was based in Quay Street, off the city centre, and was anxious to break into general publishing. So Isaac Arrowsmith persuaded a friend to write what was then called a ‘shilling shocker’ which, to the author’s bemusement (he was an estate agent called Fred Fargus) became a big seller. It was titled Called Back, issued by Hugh Conway, and it put Arrowsmiths on the literary map.

Within a few years, the firm was publishing leading writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Marie Corelli and Anthony Hope. Jerome K. Jerome, a young humorous writer who had already penned Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow, had a new book he wanted to sell, and he approached Arrowsmiths after hearing good things about the company.

Mr Arrowsmith read the manuscript and thought the book might ‘do well in the summer months’. He wanted to publish it in his popular Shilling Library but Jerome insisted on is 6d because he wanted his book illustrated.

In 1889, Three Men in a Boat appeared and was slaughtered by the critics. The public, however, loved it! The book was published all over the world and sold particularly well in the German and Russian translations. It made Jerome comfortable, but hardly rich, because many editions were simply pirated. In America, for instance, it sold more than a million copies, but Jerome didn’t receive a cent.

Today, the book is as popular as ever and has sold well over three million copies in English alone. An evocative account survives of the Arrowsmith’s annual outing or waysgooze: ‘Mr Arrowsmith led out the men in his employ to enjoy a rustic holiday’ it reads. ‘At 8am, they assembled around his breakfast table in Berkeley Place, which was bountifully covered.

‘The great day ended when at 11 p.m., the omnibus was loaded with the company, 12 in number, and thence rolling on to Clifton, the night was rendered harmonious by the hearty songs of John Bull.’

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