List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
A Note on Money

Part I The Early Years, 1782–1817
1 From the River Tweed to the River Thames
2 Embarking on Journalism
3 Editor of the Sun
4 Turbulent Times

Part II The Literary Gazette – The First Decade, 1817–1827
5 The Literary Gazette – An Ideal Occupation
6 Love and Literature
7 Out in Front – Problem Poetics
8 Social Climbing
9 Financial ‘Panic’ – Personal Attacks

Part III The Editor’s Life, 1828–1840
10 Athenaeum Competition and Challenging Projects
11 ‘Wing-spreading’ Editor
12 The Literary GazetteTeeters
13 Financial Ruin
14 Notoriety and a New Family
15 Conflict and Loss
16 Encouraging Authors – Creating Fiction

Part IV Times of Change, 1841–1851
17 Sole Possession – Serious Pursuits
18 Struggle for Financial Survival
19 Leading to Bankruptcy
20 Losing the Literary Gazette

Part V Life after the Gazette, 1851–1869
21 Publication ofAutobiography
22 Widened Horizons
23 Poverty in Old Age
24 Biographies – Concerning Madness
25 Men I Have Known
26 Characteristic Letters

Part VI Remembrances
27 Death, Obituaries, Posthumous Publication
28 Epilogue

Appendix Jerdan’s Descendants
Notes
Bibliography
Index

“This account of the life and times of William Jerdan (1785–1869), London author, editor and critic, with its cover picture of a dashing young Regency blade, is deeply researched and at the same time entertaining.
… Jerdan, editor of the popular Literary Gazette, moved in exalted circles and was involved in the establishment of the Literary Fund for distressed authors, the Royal Society of Literature, The Society of Antiquaries and the Garrick Club.
… A kind man, he always tried to encourage aspiring writers and pay them fairly. In this golden age of poetry he published Elizabeth Barrett’s first poem in 1825 and promoted the poetry, and later prose, of Letitia Landon, known as LEL. By doing so he became in effect the first literary agent. LEL’s strongly emotional output and ready wit caused her to be taken up by society hostesses and gave her remarkable independence for a young, single woman then.
By coincidence (or because we are seeing a revival of interest in the work of LEL), Poisoned Lives by Julie Watt, reviewed in the last Woman Writer, gives a biography of LEL. Conflicted Life answers many of the questions asked in that review. Jerdan, married with a growing family, and LEL had three children together, fostered and well concealed of course, and both in these pre-Victorian times seem to have protected their reputations well.
Jerdan’s energy and literary output were impressive but a combination of bad luck, changing tastes, recession and his own hopeless financial management ruined him. His next young mistress bore him 13 children. Jerdan loved the company of children and worked loyally for them and their careers until his death.
… This book can be read and studied for many reasons. It is an account of Jerdan’s crowded life and kindness (he opposed animal cruelty, sweated labour, adulterated food and the power of advertising). It is a social and political history of the period. It is an important history of the literature of the times, tastes changed, novels supplanted poetry, literature became a commercial, not a gentleman’s, business. And, especially for our members, it is a study of writers’ perennial problems – getting paid or rejected, conned or outsmarted, facing poverty, keeping up to date.
… The rude, venomous, and personal attacks that editors and politicians exchanged in those days must make us thankful for today’s libel laws and injunctions. Jerdan, though, never engaged in them, he was too kind and generous for that.” The Woman Writer

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