Perhaps the heyday in the popularity of silhouette profiles was over, or it is possible that Edward Foster saw greater business opportunities in a different field. It doesn't appear to have been competition with photographic portraits that led him to seek his fortune elsewhere, but some time in the mid-1830s, Edward Foster began to compile and publish educational charts. The first review of one of these seen, A Chart of the History of Europe, from The Liverpool Mercury is dated 21 October 1836 [1], so it was presumably published shortly before then. By 1840 it was joined by A Chart of the History of England, and over the next 20 years many editions of this and other charts would be published. Newspaper reports in October 1858 [2] and November 1860 [3] described four charts still in print and being actively offered for sale by Mr. Foster:
- The Charta Sacra - Sancto Scripturae, a chronological analysis of the Old and New Testaments (7th Ed.),
- Chart of Roman, French, and British History (42nd Ed.),
- Chart of English History, from B.C. 1100 to A.D. 1852 (15th Ed.), and
- a Chronological Chart of the History of the British Empire (12th Ed.).
In an interview with a reporter from Aris's Birmingham Gazette in May 1862, he implied that these works were compiled at, and with the assistance of, the British Museum [4]. Foster claimed that the charts had been recognised by leading educationalists, and Oxford and Cambridge Universities, "as the most useful works of their kind," and that he had distributed "upwards of 100,000 copies" to most of the "principal colleges, schools, and private families in the United Kingdom," many of them gratuitously [3].
In early 1838 a 97 page text entitled, "An Elementary Grammar of the French Language," was published - the author's name, Edward Ward Foster. It is tempting to assume that Edward Foster senior was the true author, since his son would only have been only 18 years old at the time, but it is difficult to be sure. Ever the publicists, Edward Ward Foster (either EF senior or junor) gave a talk entitled "Languages, their Origin, Affinity and Comparative Construction" in the Lecture Hall, Derby Mechanics' Institution, Wardwick, Derby on 26th February 1839 [5], and the following year published, "The Elements of English Grammar." [6]
Advertisement in The Derby Mercury, 6 August 1845
Image © 19th Century British Library Newspapers and courtesy of Gale CENGAGE Learning [7]
By 1845, "Edward Foster & Co." - possibly his son had joined him in the business - were operating as publishers, booksellers, & stationers at 4 Barnard's Inn and 43 Wakefield Street, Regent's Square, London [7]. By the time of the 1851 Census, Foster was travelling again, describing himself as a publisher and lodging with a family in Liverpool. His son, however, was married, living in Camberwell, Surrey, and gave his occupation as, "author, lecturer & professor of elocution." In newspaper articles, interviews, reviews and advertisements, the books were always discussed as having the same author as the charts, so the matter is rather confusing. Perhaps they were collaborative ventures.
After his son died in mid-1851, the indefatigable Edward Foster devoted most of the next decade to selling the chronological charts, continuing the interminable traipse from town to town. He was in Worcester in November 1853 [8], Bristol in April 1854 [9], Oxford in January 1855 [10], Essex in April 1857 [11], Derby in October 1858 [12] and again in November 1860 [13], York in April 1861 [14,15], Hull in May 1861 [16], Birmingham in May 1862 [17], Leicester in October and November 1862 [18] and Gloucester in October 1863 [19]. Despite his best efforts, by the time of his death in March 1865, sadly he and his family were living in poverty, dependent on charity from a benevolent fund set up by the proprietors of The Derby Mercury and The Derby Advertiser [20].
Edward Foster, Part 4 - Growth of a Legend
References
[1] Edward Ward Foster (1839) An Elementary Grammar of the French Language, London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 97p. Google Books.
[2] Foster's Chronological Charts, The Derby Mercury, 28 Oct 1858. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[3] Mr. Foster's Chronological Charts, The Derby Mercury, 21 Nov 1860. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[4] A Veteran, The Derby Mercury, 7 May 1862. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[5] Article, The Derby Mercury, 20 Feb 1839. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[6] Advertisment, The Derby Mercury, 26 Aug 1840. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[7] Advertisment, The Derby Mercury, 6 Aug 1845. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[8] Article, Berrow's Worcester Journal, 26 Nov 1853. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[9] Article, The Bristol Mercury, 15 Apr 1854. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[10] Article, Jackson's Oxford Journal, 27 Jan 1855. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[11] Article, The Essex Standard, 15 Apr 1857. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[12] Article, The Derby Mercury, 20 Oct 1858. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[13] Article, The Derby Mercury, 21 Nov 1860. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[14] 1861 Census: Licensed Temperance Hotel, 9 Pt of Railway St, York, Yorkshire, Ref. RG9/3547/16/26/152, 7 April 1861. Ancestry
[15] Article, The York Herald, 27 Apr 1861. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[16] Article, The Hull Packet, 3 May 1861. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[17] Article, The Derby Mercury, 7 May 1862. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[18] Article, The Leicester Chronicle, 15 Oct, 1 & 22 Nov 1862. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[19] Article, The Leicester Chronicle, 31 Oct 1863. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
[20] Advertisement, The Derby Mercury, 1 Feb 1865. 19th Century British Library Newspapers, Gale CENGAGE Learning.
A quite fascinating article. I love the idea of the chronological charts. Just think what wonders that man could have created with the internet at his disposal.
ReplyDeleteYes, I wonder what they actually looked like, and, for that matter, whether any have survived. The final part - yes, I know I've already got to the dying bit, but there's more to this story than meets the eye - will follow in due course, and I'll post a comment here when it's done. If you've subscribed to this particular article, you'll get a notification.
ReplyDeleteI've updated this with a link to Part 4 of the series.
ReplyDelete