Bent’s scores of published articles can be usefully divided into three main categories: 1) Academic (written for his peers, i.e. archaeologists, geographers, ethnologists, anthropologists, inter alia); 2) middlebrow (catering to an educated market, but penned to engage and entertain); and 3) popular (aimed at the general reader, light in tone and readily accessible – the author was not beyond including fictitious elements, and this needs to be borne in mind when enjoying them).
Falling into the second category were the four pieces Bent wrote for Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, a well-respected journal launched by the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh with an April issue in 1817. In 1905, after Bent’s time, the magazine transferred its main office to London and, rebadging as Blackwood’s Magazine, continued publishing right up until 1980 – boasting of remaining within Blackwood family hands for its entire existence.
At the firm’s helm at the start of Bent’s submissions to the company was founder William Blackwood’s son, John (1818-1879), and at the time of Bent’s death, 1897, another William, John’s nephew. Bent never addressed his letters to any particular individual, and the names of the various junior editors responsible for regular correspondence with our celebrity explorer require further delving.
For references, David Finkelstein has published a monograph: The House of Blackwood. Author–Publisher Relations in the Victorian Age (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002); and there is an earlier account by Margaret Oliphant and Mary Porter – Annals of a publishing house: William Blackwood and his sons, their magazine and friends (published by Blackwood’s themselves in three volumes: Vol. 1 = 1897; Vol. 2 = 1897; Vol. 3 = 1898).
Much of the company’s archives is now curated by the National Library of Scotland (NLS; see below for references); there are over 30 known letters (1878-1892) surviving from Bent to the firm. The contents are typical of dealings between author and publisher, i.e. submission ideas, editorial advice, chasing for replies and payment, returning proofs, etc. It is clear that Bent was in the habit of approaching several publishers at the same time with the same article – hoping that if one rejected, another might accept. (Bent’s own papers, with copies of his dealings with his many publishers, alas, have never surfaced.) The correspondence with Messrs Blackwood ends in 1892, possibly because the editors turned down Bent’s ‘Mashonaland’ material (including what was to be his bestselling monograph) and the explorer then thought better of submitting anything in future. Perhaps the competition paid better too! We will never know, but the Edinburgh firm was to miss out on Bent’s most sensational work.
The four articles by Bent published by Blackwood’s are: ‘On a far-off island’ [i.e. Karpathos] (Vol. 139, Feb 1886, pp. 233-244); ‘Revelations from Patmos’ (Vol. 141, Mar 1887, pp. 368-379); ‘Tarsus Past and Present’ (Vol. 148, Nov 1890, pp. 616-625); ‘Archæological Nomads in Rugged Cilicia’ (Vol. 149, Mar 1891, pp. 377-391).
Many of the issues of Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine are freely available online. Their contents were often syndicated abroad, i.e. the link to Bent’s ‘Patmos’ article above leads to the Littell’s Living Age version (USA, Vol. 173 (1887), pp. 243ff).
What now follows are short summaries of Bent’s correspondence with Messrs Blackwood between 1878 and 1892. Here and there, a line or two of Bent’s text is included to bring him directly into the picture. The NLS shelfmarks are provided throughout. We are extremely grateful to Dr Kirsty McHugh and Lynsey Halliday of the National Library of Scotland for their kind help in this research and for permission to quote from the correspondence.
(Abbreviations: NLS = National Library of Scotland; BEM = Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine; GCP = 13 Great Cumberland Place, the Bents’ London home)
Key: e.g. “(1878) NGS MS.4368 ff.149-150: 6 Dec 1878 (from Florence)” = letter year; NLS shelfmark/reference; date of letter; sent from
(1878) NLS MS.4368 ff.149-150: 6 Dec 1878 (from Florence): Bent offers his first monograph (on San Marino) to the firm; it is rejected and subsequently published (1879) by Longmans. “For reference I may state that my name appears in the Honour school of History, Class II, Oxford, Mods, 1875… I have a series of watercolour sketches [done] on the spot if you think them desirable.”
(1885) NLS MS.4466 ff.266: 12 Jul 1885 (from GCP): Returning from what are now the Greek Dodecanese, Bent offers an article ‘On a far-off island’ [Karpathos]. “I wonder if you would care for a short paper on modern Greek life and folklore as compared with the antient?”
(1885) NLS MS.4466 ff.270: undated, after 12 Jul 1885 (from GCP): Bent chases firm for a reply and they obviously accept the article. On Bent’s original letter is a notable (and quotable) editorial comment in another, anonymous, hand: “Very readable & interesting. I don’t think any good description of Karpathos & its people has ever appeared before. The customs are primitive and quaint in the interior; and although the writer has evidently not a keen sense for the picturesque, the paper is sure to be read & quoted.” One might take issue; Bent, presumably, never saw the note.
(1885) NLS MS.4466 ff.268: 14 Nov 1885 (from GCP): Bent is returning the proof of his Karpathos article. He makes a reference to his eminent acquaintance Sir Charles Newton (1816-1894): “It was with a view to excavating and collecting folklore that Mr. Newton advised me to go to Karpathos last winter.”
(1886) NLS MS.4481 f.34: 11 Feb 1886 (from Constantinople): Bent sends thanks for payment (cheque) for his Karpathos article; the amount unspecified (see below, MS.4495 ff.235-6: 29 Jun 1887). The article (Bent’s first of four with BEM) appeared as: ‘On a far-off island’ ( Vol. 139, Feb 1886, pp. 233-244).
(1886) NLS MS.4481 f.36: 26 Sep 1886 (from York): Bent offers an article on Samos and refers to an earlier one on Astypalaea that he sent “about 2 months ago” (this letter untraced). “My dear Sir – I have put together a paper on some of our experiences on the island of Samos, which I think would go very well with the paper I sent you on Astypalaea about 2 months ago.”
(1886) NLS MS.4495 ff.240-1: 28 Sep 1886 [NGS have it filed as 1887] (from GCP): Clearly with no reply to his previous letter (26 Sep 1886), Bent submits the Samos article he refers to anyway (see NGS MS.4481 f.36: 26 Sep 1886). He suggests a pair (later a trio) of articles (Samos, Astypalaea, Patmos). The final sentence in the following passage indicates that Bent had flexible arrangements with his other publishers: “I send you herewith the paper on Samos; my idea was that perhaps that you might be able to publish one or two of my Greek articles consecutively, as when spread over many magazines they rather lose their point. I wish I had sent you one I wrote on Patmos but if you saw your way to publishing consecutively I think I could get it back… I daresay you would not object to publishing my name with the article as I have rather associated myself with Greek exploration when working for the British Museum & Hellenic Society. I send for your inspection a few of the photos my wife took during our last tour under extreme difficulties.” The Samos and Astypalaea articles were declined; the Patmos one was ultimately accepted (see below, MS.4495 f.227: 15 Jan 1887). The reference to Mabel Bent’s photographs is intriguing, as almost none of her original prints seem to have survived or surfaced. Very unfortunately, the prints Bent is referring to are not catalogued within the Blackwood archive at the NLS (pers. comm).
(1886) NLS MS.4495 f.244: 18 Nov 1886 [NGS have it filed as 1887] (from GCP): Still hearing nothing, Bent writes to chase news of his Samos and Astypalaea articles. “I should be obliged to hear from you respecting the two articles of mine you have.”
(1886) NLS MS.4481 ff.38-9: 2 Dec 1886 (from GCP): Doggedly, Bent chases yet again, this time including the MS of his Patmos article, which he must have retrieved from another publisher (see NGS MS.4495 ff.240-1: 28 Sep 1886 above). “I send for your perusal the third article [of a proposed trio] on Patmos which I proposed, if you see your way to publishing the 3 [on] Greek life on Aegean islands: (1) The Principality of Samos; (2) Revelations from Patmos; (3) Astypalaea. This will cover the whole of our tour last winter & it would be preferable to me to have them consecutively printed. I should be much obliged for an early answer…”
(1886) NLS MS.4481 f.40: 23 Dec 1886 (from GCP): Bent has still not had a reply, five months after submitting his first proposal. “I should be much obliged if you will let me know what your opinion is with regard to the 3 articles I sent you on Samos, Patmos and Astypalaea.” It seems, finally, that BEM did agree within weeks (over Christmas and the New Year) to publish Bent’s Patmos article, but not the other two. As for Samos, Bent had already published six articles with other journals (see Bibliography) referring to this island and BEM probably thought this was enough. (The Bents first visited Samos over the winter 0f 1882/3.) The Astypalaea piece did appear in The Gentleman’s Magazine in March 1887 (Vol. 262, pp. 253-65).
(1887) NLS MS.4495 f.227: 15 Jan 1887 (from GCP): Bent asks for a proof of his Patmos article quickly as the couple are about to start another expedition soon (to the Eastern Mediterranean) to indulge his “anthropological propensities”. He regrets his trio of Greek articles will not appear. “I am sorry you do not see your way to publishing the 3 papers consecutively… My work this year is taking me to Salonika & some of the Turkish towns on the Macedonian coast, where I hope I may come in contact with people which will give a wider field for my anthropological propensities.”
(1887) NLS MS.4495 f.229: 25 Jan 1887 (from GCP): Bent has been asked to add some detail to his Patmos article, he does so. BEM’s policy was generally not to print the author’s name at the article’s end, Bent asks them to make an exception, and they do so. “I have as you suggest added a few things respecting the books in the library & the legendary life of St John on Patmos… I think as you are only publishing one of my papers you will not refuse to put my name at the end of it, as I have more or less associated myself with the subject I prefer its being known who has written the article.” (Bent was not acknowledged in his Karpathos article, but he was for the other three BEM pieces.)
(1887) NLS MS.4495 ff.231-2: 2 Jun 1887 (from GCP; Bent’s headed stationery here is black-lined, the deceased is unknown): Bent writes chasing payment for his Patmos contribution and seeking a copy of the relevant issue. He again mentions that he is preparing an article on the Jews of Salonika (see NGS MS.4495 f.227: 15 Jan 1887 above). “I have just returned home from Greece & not finding a copy of the March magazine or a cheque for my contribution I conclude you have acted more wisely than some others & awaited my return to send them.” The article (Bent’s second of four with BEM) appeared as: ‘Revelations from Patmos’ (Vol. 141, Mar 1887, pp. 368-379). [A further Patmos article – ‘What St. John Saw on Patmos’ – appears in The Nineteenth Century, Vol. 24 (142) (1888, Dec), pp. 813-821.]
(1887) NLS MS.4495 f.233: 16 Jun 1887 (from GCP. Bent’s stationery is black-lined, the deceased is unknown): Bent is again asking, perhaps tetchily, for payment for his Patmos article. “I wrote to tell you the other day that I have received no cheque for the article I wrote in your March number. As I have only just returned from the East there is always a fear of its having got lost so I should be much obliged if you would let me know if one has been sent or not.”
(1887) NLS MS.4495 ff.235-6: 29 Jun 1887 (from GCP): Bent has received payment for his Patmos article but still not a complimentary copy. Surely he must have acquired a copy elsewhere but is just making his point! His payment was £14 (c. £750 today), which we can assume was around the going rate; the article was c. 8500 words (see also NGS MS.4546 f.241: 3 Nov 1890 and NLS MS.4546 f.241: 3 Nov 1890).
(1887) NLS MS.4495 f.237: 25 Jul 1887 (from GCP): Despite having no reply to his offer of an article on the Jews of Salonika (see MS.4495 ff.231-2: 2 Jun 1887), Bent sends his text in nevertheless. It is rejected but appears as ‘A Peculiar People’ in Longman’s Magazine in November 1887 (Vol. 11 (61) (Nov), pp. 24-36).
(1887) NLS MS.4495 f.238: 27 July 1887 (from GCP): Speculatively, as is his wont now it seems, Bent submits an article stemming from their Spring 1887 trip to the Northern Aegean, including substantial excavations on Thasos and a tour of Samothraki. “I send you herewith a paper on some of our Greek island experiences of last spring. I have made it short & only introduced material that I thought would interest. If you would care for it longer I could easily extend it.” BEM decline, but Bent publishes five scholarly pieces on Thasos and his more general article on ‘Samothrace’ was accepted by The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1888 (Vol. 264 (Jan), pp. 86-98).
(1887) NLS MS.4495 f.242: 30 Sep 1887 (from GCP): Remarkably prolific, Bent submits a further piece. “My excuse for sending you another Greek Island paper must be that I think this Teliote [Tilos] wedding therein related the most interesting of all our adventures in the Aegean Sea.” BEM, perhaps wisely, turned it down. This article was a tour-de-force of imagination and one of the main indicators we must cite when illustrating that Bent did not always report on what he actually saw. The account of this wedding outlasts the time spent on the island, as recorded in his wife’s diary, and neither does she refer to it. The episode is made up of extant Greek wedding practice and custom, but Bent never witnessed them on Tilos. Nevertheless, the article was published as ‘A Protracted Wedding’ in The Gentleman’s Magazine in October 1888 (Vol. 265 (Oct), pp. 331-341. Intriguingly, a slightly different version was to appear under the same title in the English Illustrated Magazine years later, in June 1891 (Vol. 93 (Jun), pp. 672-677), while the Bents were in South Africa!
(1887) NLS MS.4495 f.246: 1 Dec 1887 (from GCP): As noted, Blackwood’s were also book publishers and Bent now tries to interest them in the important diaries of John Covel (1638-1722) – English ambassador in Constantinople. “In the British Museum I came across a voluminous M.S. being the diary of Dr. Covel, chaplain to our ambassador at Constantinople 1670-7. This diary has never been printed.” The firm decline it. Bent published an introductory article, ‘Dr. John Covel’s Diary’, in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1890 (Vol. 268 (May), 470-489). The work was successfully edited by Bent and published in 1893 as ‘Extracts from the diaries of John Covel (1870-1879)’ in Bent’s Early voyages and travels in the Levant (London: Hakluyt Society, pp. 99-287). The work is still available.
(1888) NLS MS.4511 f.156: 1 Jan 1888 (from GCP): Bent writes for a reply to his proposal to publish John Covel’s diary (see previous letter, MS.4495 f.246: 1 Dec 1887).
(1888) NLS MS.4511 f.158: 1 Aug 1888 (from GCP): Bent submits an article based on their Spring 1888 explorations along the Turkish coast. “Last winter I undertook for 2 societies excavations in Turkey & being unable to get satisfactory terms from the govt I made this cruise of which the enclosed is the account.” BEM turn it town, but the piece, among Bent’s most enjoyable, was published in November 1888 as ‘A Piratical F.S.A.’ in the Cornhill Magazine (Vol. 58 (11), pp. 620-635).
(1889) NLS MS.4528 f.236: 31 Jul 1889 (from GCP): Bent submits an article based on their visit into Armenia (as they were riding south-north through Persia in the Spring of 1889).
(1889) NLS MS.4528 f.238: 4 Oct 1889 (from GCP): Bent chases for a reply to his letter 31 July 1889 concerning an article on Armenia.
(1889) NLS MS.4528 f.240: 5 Dec 1889 (from GCP): Again, Bent chases for a reply to about his Armenia piece. BEM are clearly not interested. It is not until 1896 that an article on Armenia does appear, published in the Contemporary Review as ‘Travels amongst the Armenians’ (Vol. 70 (Jul/Dec), pp. 695-709). This is a good example of Bent’s tenacity and his loathness to ‘waste’ a perfectly good article – and a source of income.
(1889) NLS MS.4528 f.242: 17 Dec 1889 (from GCP): Bent submits his article ‘Under British Protection’ based on their visit to Bahrein in the early months of 1889. BEM turn it down and it is published in 1893 by The Fortnightly Review (Vol. 60 (54) (Sep), pp. 365-376). See comment above about Bent’s tenacity – are there perhaps articles of his that never saw the light of day?
(1890) NLS MS.4546 f.237: 7 Aug 1890 (from GCP): Bent sends an article on Tarsus, following their explorations in the area in the Spring of that year. BEM agree to publish it and it will be Bent’s third article for them: ‘Tarsus Past and Present’ (Vol. 148 (Nov 1890), pp. 616-625).
(1890) NLS MS.4546 ff.239-40: 12 Oct 1890 (from GCP): Bent returns his Tarsus proof and other material to support an idea for a further piece: “I return the proof of “Tarsus past & present” corrected herewith… I am also sending you a reprint of the paper I read before the Geographical Society in the summer. It occurs to me that perhaps you would like a popular article on our wanderings & adventures amongst the nomads of the Taurus.” A BEM editor has written a note on Bent’s letter: “A very popular paper might be made out of Mr Bent’s reports to the Geographical & Hellenic Societies. I would invite him to submit to us a paper giving a brief general account of the condition of Cilicia, and accounts of his wanderings, and a description of the more striking natural features of the country, especially the Corycian caves, the passes, the Taurus range and the rivers. The Yuruk tribes are interesting and should be fully dealt with. The article should wind up with a general survey of the archaeological results, [word illegible] with reference to the history of the Province.” This suggestion is to result shortly in Bent’s fourth article for BEM: ‘Archæological Nomads in Rugged Cilicia’.
(1890) NLS MS.4546 f.241: 3 Nov 1890 (from GCP): Bent writes with thanks for the fee of £12 (c. £500 today) for his Tarsus article, which appears later in November. He confirms that he has finished his article on “the nomads of the Taurus & have sent it to be type written” (a reference to recent advances in publishing technology!).
(1890) NLS MS.4546 f.243: 6 Nov 1890 (from GCP): The Taurus article is back from being typed up and Bent sends it off. “I send you herewith the paper on our wanderings in the Taurus. I am not quite sure that I like the title perhaps you could suggest a better one.”
(1890) NLS MS.4546 ff.245-246: 5 Dec 1890 (from GCP): Bent returns his Taurus proofs and makes a reference to a possible expedition to ‘Mashonaland’: “I have received a joint overture from the R.G.S. and the British South Africa Company requesting me to undertake the examination and excavation of the recently discovered ruins in Mashonaland… The matter requires a little more thought etc. but I fancy will end in our going, in which case we shall be away 8 or 9 months but shall have material of a decidedly novel nature to communicate. I have not mentioned the fact to any other publisher, thinking perhaps you might like to undertake an account of that country either in journal or book form.” This letter is of genuine significance. Information on the early background to the Bents’ famous expedition to Great Zimbabwe in 1891 is scanty. The offer of a publication is noteworthy, as the eventual monograph, published by Longman’s, was a bestseller. Blackwood’s turned it down, as did John Murray (NLS MS.40087 f.101: 19 Feb 1892).
(1891) NLS MS.4566 ff.206-207: 13 Jan 1891 (from GCP): The preparations for ‘Mashonaland’ have been completed in a matter of weeks – a huge achievement given the scale of the project. Bent asks whether BEM would care to pay for his Tarsus piece before they set sail. “I am starting for Mashonaland on the 29th of this month [January 1891] & if it in no way interferes with your arrangements I should deem it a favour if you will send the cheque for my article [‘Archæological Nomads in Rugged Cilicia’, Vol. 149 (Mar 191), pp. 377-391] before then as I understand postal arrangements will be very difficult.” There is a note on Bent’s letter confirming that a cheque was posted to Bent on 15 Jan 1891; the amount is not specified.
(1892) NLS MS.4584 ff.156-157: 6 Feb 1892 (from GCP): The Bents are back from South Africa, again Bent enquires whether the firm would be interested in his material from this expedition. Cleary he had not contracted it to another publisher at this date. “We have returned from our trip to Mashonaland & our excavations at Zimbabwe both which though far longer than anticipation [sic] have been attended with highly satisfactory results… I am going to ask if you would care to give me an offer for my material, a portion to run through your magazine and the bulk to be produced in a well-illustrated volume… I am anxious if possible to come to an arrangement of this sort with one publisher and not to scatter my material as I have done before… Of course, having only been home a week or 10 days I have nothing ready to place before you, but hope soon to have my ideas collected & start work… An early reply will oblige.” This letter (and see NGS MS.4546 ff.245-246: 5 Dec 1890) is of genuine significance. Information on the early background to the Bents’ expedition to Great Zimbabwe in 1891 is scanty. Bent writes to John Murray (NLS MS.40087 f.101) on 19 Feb 1892 (and perhaps others as well) enquiring whether they might be interested, but the eventual monograph, The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland is published by Longman’s in 1892, and is an immediate bestseller. Bent’s Mashonaland material is subsequently disseminated in a score of articles – academic, middlebrow, and popular (see Bibliography).
The Blackwood’s archive in Edinburgh has no further Bent correspondence, it seems, after 6 February 1892, and the celebrity explorer placed his articles with other periodicals. It is speculation, but perhaps Bent was disappointed or upset with Blackwood’s response to his South African findings, which soon brought him considerable fame and provided a platform for his last great sphere of activity (and cause of his early death) – Southern Arabia.
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It is to be hoped that the archives of some of the other periodicals Bent wrote for can be traced and accessed. The archives of one of his book publishers, Longmans, Green & Co., are today with the University of Reading, Special Collections (Berkshire, UK) (ref: GB 6 RUL MS 1393). The material contains production and sales information but not actual correspondence, apart from, and uniquely, Bent’s signed contract (ref: MS 1393/3/1974) for his The sacred city of the Ethiopians (1893).
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