Microform Pages from "The Factory Girl"

Images of The Factory Girl 1814 Edition:

I am posting the title page, copyright notice and first page of Chapter 1, and the final page of the novel from the 1814 edition of The Factory Girl. I apologize for the black blots/smudges that appear on the printouts from the microform, but for the most part, the text is legible. These images are available at this blog’s Photobucket site: www.photobucket.com/conductyourself.


Title Page:




The inclusion of the quote from St. Paul indicates that this book is not necessarily going to be “rocking the boat” so to speak. The words “gentleness,” “meekness,” and “temperance” especially stand out as feminine traits highly desired and required of women during the time period. Meek women usually do not revolt or propose outrageous ideas. Also notable is the fact that Sarah Savage’s name does not appear on the title page or anywhere else in the book.


Copyright Notice and Chapter 1:



The inclusion of the copyright filing is really interesting, though I have to wonder how effective it was against pirating publishing houses. I don’t know to what extent the copyright law was actually upheld. If there were any pirated copies of The Factory Girl, I haven’t found them yet – although I’m not sure if the rewritten version counts as a pirated copy since I haven’t read the two versions yet to compare them.

Page 2 is a declaration of copyright, and the font for this page is much smaller and condensed than the rest of the book. The declaration states that Munroe, Francis and Parker have filed with William Shaw, the Clerk of the District of Massachusetts, in conformity to two different acts of copyright on November 22, 1814 and “in the thirty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America.”

The text of the book starts on page 3 and continues until page 112. There are no engravings, preface or dedication. You’ll notice that Chapter 1 starts with a quote: “The heart benevolent and kind / The most resembles God. –Burns.” All seven chapters of the book open with quotes.


Final Page:


There is no back matter in the 1814 edition. The words “The End” or “Finis” do not appear at all on page 112 nor is there a separate “Conclusion.”

The listing of the 1824 edition in the AAS catalog indicates the publisher’s catalog was included in the book on pages 107-108. The book’s only illustration is also within the publisher’s catalog, not the text itself.

Unfortunately I could not track down a digital or microform version of the 1824 edition, which included the publisher’s catalog. That would have been very interesting to see what other texts were being printed and advertised in 1824. Both editions, the 1814 and the 1824, do not include any illustrations within the text itself. I’m not sure if other books published during the same years had illustrations or not, but I’m sure that books that included illustrations also cost more than non-illustrated ones.