Little Women Advertisements
Dublin Core
Title
Little Women Advertisements
Description
This group of advertisements is found at the end of the first edition of Little Women, part second found in Manhattan College’s Fales Collection. Two pages of the advertisements list some writings by Jean Ingelow, a fellow nineteenth-century female author. A third page advertises a “Lives of Exemplary Women” series, also published by Roberts Bros.
Jean Ingelow’s works are listed, each with a title, description, price, and a quotation praising the text; her short stories, children’s stories, and poems are all advertised. Like Luisa Alcott’s Little Women, almost all of the works contain at least one illustration, as listed in the description. As parts of an advertisement, the descriptions are clearly meant to encourage readers to buy Ingelow’s works. Since they all mention the illustrations within the work, it seems as though illustrations were deemed desirable and important, just as they are in Little Women. The mention of illustrations in almost every one of Ingelow’s works being advertised points to the value that illustrations had during the time of Little Women’s publication. While illustrations are not as common in adult texts today, perhaps authors and publishers in the nineteenth century believed that illustrations added something to a text that words themselves could not portray. The advertisement also refers to Ingelow’s works as “beautiful” and “art,” often describing the books’ physical appearances. The importance placed upon the illustrations, as well as the book being described as art, demonstrates the idea found in Luisa (Little Women) and May (Studying Art Abroad, and How to Do it Cheaply) Alcott’s writings: that art has value, a value that goes beyond just beauty, and the power to benefit people.
The advertisements in Little Women do not just uncover this newfound value of art; they also reveal the value that women can offer to society. The ad refers to Ingelow as “the first among the women whom the world calls poets,” which suggests that women were on the cusp of attaining a newfound respect and recognition within the field of literature. The third advertisement for Roberts Bros’ “Lives of Exemplary Women” series also supports this notion. According to the advertisement, the series includes memoirs, portraits, correspondence, and accounts of friendships between “exemplary” women of the time. Women, like Jean Ingelow and the other “exemplary women” in the series, getting this kind of attention and publicity for their work suggests that a kind of feminist movement could have been in the works during the late 1800s. Then, perhaps, the feminist ideals and tendencies in Little Women (demonstrated through the story itself, as well as the illustrations) are the Alcott sisters’ way of declaring their support for such a movement. The advertisements at the end of the novel work to further these ideas which were put forth in the novel: that women and art are valuable, and can offer important and meaningful contributions to society.
Jean Ingelow’s works are listed, each with a title, description, price, and a quotation praising the text; her short stories, children’s stories, and poems are all advertised. Like Luisa Alcott’s Little Women, almost all of the works contain at least one illustration, as listed in the description. As parts of an advertisement, the descriptions are clearly meant to encourage readers to buy Ingelow’s works. Since they all mention the illustrations within the work, it seems as though illustrations were deemed desirable and important, just as they are in Little Women. The mention of illustrations in almost every one of Ingelow’s works being advertised points to the value that illustrations had during the time of Little Women’s publication. While illustrations are not as common in adult texts today, perhaps authors and publishers in the nineteenth century believed that illustrations added something to a text that words themselves could not portray. The advertisement also refers to Ingelow’s works as “beautiful” and “art,” often describing the books’ physical appearances. The importance placed upon the illustrations, as well as the book being described as art, demonstrates the idea found in Luisa (Little Women) and May (Studying Art Abroad, and How to Do it Cheaply) Alcott’s writings: that art has value, a value that goes beyond just beauty, and the power to benefit people.
The advertisements in Little Women do not just uncover this newfound value of art; they also reveal the value that women can offer to society. The ad refers to Ingelow as “the first among the women whom the world calls poets,” which suggests that women were on the cusp of attaining a newfound respect and recognition within the field of literature. The third advertisement for Roberts Bros’ “Lives of Exemplary Women” series also supports this notion. According to the advertisement, the series includes memoirs, portraits, correspondence, and accounts of friendships between “exemplary” women of the time. Women, like Jean Ingelow and the other “exemplary women” in the series, getting this kind of attention and publicity for their work suggests that a kind of feminist movement could have been in the works during the late 1800s. Then, perhaps, the feminist ideals and tendencies in Little Women (demonstrated through the story itself, as well as the illustrations) are the Alcott sisters’ way of declaring their support for such a movement. The advertisements at the end of the novel work to further these ideas which were put forth in the novel: that women and art are valuable, and can offer important and meaningful contributions to society.
Source
Manhattan College, Fales Collection
Publisher
Roberts Bros
Date
1869
Rights
Manhattan College Library
Type
advertisements
Files
Citation
“Little Women Advertisements,” Manhattan College Omeka , accessed June 29, 2024, https://omeka-pilot.manhattan.edu/items/show/63.