''The Caxtons: A Family Picture'' is an 1849 Victorian novel by

Edward Bulwer-Lytton Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...

that was popular in its time.Sutherland, John
The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction
p. 111 (1989) The book was first serialized anonymously in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

'' from April 1848 to October 1849, and first published in novel form (in three volumes) in Britain in 1849. In the United States, it was serialized in ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'' (1850–53) and '' Littell's Living Age'' (1850-52).Mathews, William
Introduction to 1896 reprint
at p. x The novel was "instantly popular" in Britain and also sold 35,000 copies within three years of its release in the United States.Warner, Charles Dudley, ed
Warner's synopsis of books ancient and modern, Vol. II
p. 134 (1910 edition)

Plot

A synopsis of the plot from a 1910 reference work states:

The Caxtons are Austin Caxton, a scholar engaged on a great work, "The History of Human Error;" his wife Kitty, much his junior; his brother Roland, the Captain, who has served in the Napoleonic campaigns; the two children of the latter, Herbert and Blanche; and Austin's son,
Pisistratus Pisistratus or Peisistratus ( grc-gre, Πεισίστρατος ; 600 – 527 BC) was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular ...
, who tells the story. The quiet country life of the family of Austin Caxton is interrupted by a visit to London. There Pisistratus, who has had a good school education, though he has not yet entered the university, is offered the position of secretary to Mr. Trevanion, a leader in
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
. Lady Ellinor, Mr. Trevanion's wife, was loved as a girl by Roland and Austin Caxton; but she had passed them both by to make a marriage better suited to an ambitious woman. By a freak of fate Pisistratus now falls in love with her daughter Fannie; and when he finds that his suit is hopeless, he gives up his position under Mr. Trevanion, and enters
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, where his college course is soon closed by the financial troubles of his father. A further outline of this story would give no idea of its charm. The mutual affection of the Caxtons is finely indicated, and the gradations of light and shade make a beautiful picture. Never before had Bulwer written with so light a touch and so gentle a humor, and this novel has been called the most brilliant and attractive of productions. His gentle satire of certain phrases of political life was founded, doubtless, on actual experience.

The Caxtons are asserted to have descended from

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books. His parentage ...

, the first English printer. In the latter part of the novel, two characters emigrate to Australia, and emigration is positively depicted as a chance for redemption.Knox, Bruce, ''The Earl of Carnarvon: Highclere, Hampshire, and Empire'', in Taylor, Miles (ed.
Southampton: Gateway to the British Empire
at p. 20 (2007) Pisistratus Caxton also serves as the nominal narrator of ''My Novel'' (1853) and ''What Will He Do With It?'' (1858).

Legacy

From the time of its release, comparisons of the work to '' Tristram Shandy'' were frequent, with a few commentators suggesting the borrowing was perhaps too much, but the former work can be ultimately seen more generally as an inspiration than a source text.Tuckerman, Bayar
Lord Lytton
in ''The Princeton Review'', at p. 270 (November 1884)''Tristram Shandy'' or ''The Caxtons''?
''

Fraser's Magazine ''Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country'' was a general and literary journal published in London from 1830 to 1882, which initially took a strong Tory line in politics. It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely direct ...

'' (March 1856), pp. 253-67Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. LIV
p. 218 (1898) (stating that the book "levied ampler loans on Sterne's pictures of Mr. Shandy and his household than a stern sense of probity might justify")Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton's Later Novels
in ''The Quarterly Review'', Vol. 117, at pp. 370-71 (London, April 1865)("It is not enough to admit that advantage has been taken of eminent model ...") The ''Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction'' (1989) states that the "domestic milieu and easy-going narrative manner" of ''The Caxtons'' stands in contrast to the author's prior melodramatic works, and "marks a turning point in Bulwer-Lytton's career, and in Victorian fiction generally." The description of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widel ...

Rufus Wilmot Griswold Rufus Wilmot Griswold (February 13, 1815 – August 27, 1857) was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15 years old. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia, Ne ...

's negative and much-republished 1849 obituary of Poe is in part a lengthy quote of the description of the character Frances Vivian in ''The Caxtons''. The passage was marked with quotes in the original obituary, but the quotes were omitted when later republished.Peeples, Scott
''The Afterlife of Edgar Allan Poe''
p. 5 (2004)

References

External links

''The Caxtons''
(1855 print at Google books) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caxtons, the 1849 British novels Novels by Edward Bulwer-Lytton Novels first published in serial form Works published anonymously