shadow of britain

Chapter 916: Elder Carter is exiled to Ningguta!
Of course, Arthur doesn't need to be too upset about not riding the wave of the travelogue genre's popularity.

Because in today's London publishing market, travelogues are not the only popular genre.

Since Sir Walter Scott burst onto the scene in England, historical fiction has always been a bestseller in the London publishing market.

According to survey reports released by the London Publishers Association in recent years, the market for historical fiction has even seen a situation where supply cannot meet demand.

However, the high demand and limited supply of historical books doesn't mean everyone can make money from them. Since the unfortunate passing of Sir Walter Scott, few decent historical works have been published in Britain in recent years. But if a book with a good subject and commendable writing does appear, its sales are unlikely to fall below a thousand copies.

In this regard, the one who benefited the most from the version's advantages was undoubtedly Elder Carter, Walter Scott's successor.

Since Mr. Carter's debut novel, "Robinson Crusoe," became a hit in Britain, he has been busy with underground literary work while also publishing several historical novels in his spare time.

The year after Elder returned to London from his round-the-world voyage, he released his major masterpiece, "The Horn of Blenheim".

This military history novel, set against the backdrop of the Battle of Blenheim during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704, tells the story of Thomas Harrow, a young York farmer, who is drafted into the army and joins John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, on his expedition to the Rhine.

The three-volume novel, priced at £1.10 shillings, sold out its first edition of 1000 copies within three months of its release. Due to its popularity, it had to be reprinted at the end of the year with 2000 copies.

Literary magazines such as Athena and The London Review even believed that the publication of Blenheim's Horn had a considerable symbolic significance, and that after the book's release, no one in the British literary world dared to challenge Elder Carter's status as Walter Scott's successor.

After more than a year of silence, the esteemed Mr. Elder Carter, after a friendly consultation with his close friend Mr. Alexandre Dumas in Paris, solemnly launched his epic masterpiece, "The Blood of Lancaster," which he had been conceiving for eight years, last week.

The story spans half a century, beginning with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and ending with the passage of the Act of Supremacy in 1534, which marked the formal completion of the English Reformation.

The protagonist of the story is a young scribe whose lineage has been concealed—John Morton.

As a forgotten bastard of the Lancaster family, he was forced to live in anonymity in the shadow of the Tudor dynasty. Through complex relationships with a compassionate Reformed priest, a ruthless court secretary, and a Catholic noblewoman, Morton ultimately facilitated the resurgence of the Lancaster bastard in the Tudor dynasty.

Although the book has been out for less than a week, it has already sparked widespread discussion in London's literary critics' circles. Judging from the booming sales in major London bookstores, Imperial Publishing now has only one question to consider: when to reprint it.

Although Arthur had reservations about Elder's choice of characters who were both Yorkshire farmers and illegitimate children, he didn't dwell on it because of the success of the two books. More importantly, he wasn't sure whether Elder's choice of these two protagonists was his own idea or a suggestion from Dumas.

Furthermore, in Arthur's mind, Imperial Publishing should always adhere to an inclusive approach in its selection of topics.

To put it bluntly, we must have at least one specialized author in every genre, or at least in every popular genre.

In other words, if Elder cannot conquer the popular historical genre, it will be a very tricky situation.

While Tennyson dominated poetry, Darwin reigned supreme in travelogues, Elder dictated history, Dickens conquered London theaters, and Disraeli used political themes to promote himself, what was Sir Arthur Hastings doing?

As chairman of the board of directors of Imperial Publishing Company, Sir Arthur decided to turn the tide and save the company from collapse!
He resolutely ventured into a territory that almost no authors at Imperial Publishing Company could reach.

What many people might not expect is that another major trend in the London publishing market right now is scientific monographs.

Charles Babbage's *The Economics of Manufacturing*, Dr. Radner's *The Steam Engine*, McCulloch's *The Dictionary of Commerce*, and Bain's *History of the Cotton Industry*—these scientific monographs, whose titles alone would give most people a headache and whose prices are extremely high, have surprisingly achieved commercial success in the London publishing market.

Even Dr. James Clark's medical treatise, *Consumption*, gained widespread popularity in Britain during the cholera epidemic. Compared to most obscure medical books, *Consumption* is relatively easy to understand, but even so, it's hard to explain why almost every influential newspaper and literary journal recommended it to the public with such enthusiasm.

However, not understanding something doesn't mean you can't follow the trend.

Given Sir Arthur's expertise in natural philosophy, it might be difficult for him to write academic papers, but it wouldn't be a problem for him to write a few popular science books based on current scientific advancements.

Arthur Hastings' name can be found in almost all of the best-selling popular science books in London today.

Arthur and Darwin's "The Pulse of the Earth: The Beagle and South America" ​​is a popular science adaptation of "The Beagle's Journal." Using a third-person narrative style, it transforms Darwin's geological and biological observations into easy-to-understand scientific explanations.

The London Review called it "essays that let scientific phenomena speak for themselves."

The Times book review also stated: "This book makes one feel for the first time that science can have a plot, just like a novel."

The Geological Society of London has recommended it as "essential reading for young readers new to geology."

Meanwhile, Arthur and John Snow, a medical doctor from the University of London, co-authored "Plague in the Water: Cholera Statistics," which combined complex medical data with social observations based on cholera outbreaks in London and Liverpool at the time, using serial charts, street maps and municipal records to speculate on the transmission mechanism of cholera.

Although the book has sparked widespread controversy in the medical community, supporters and opponents are almost evenly divided.

However, this did not prevent the Royal College of Physicians from inviting Sir Arthur Hastings, Secretary General of the Commissioner for Police Affairs, to give a public presentation on "Public Health and Police Cooperation," which is considered by many to be a milestone in public health advocacy in the UK.

As for Arthur's edited version of Michael Faraday's Christmas Lectures, although Faraday himself intended the book to be priced almost at cost, resulting in no profit and even incurring advertising expenses, it remains one of London's best-selling popular science books, even hailed as "the Divine Comedy of natural philosophy."

However, to some extent, the publication of this book earned Sir Arthur and Empire Publishing enough social reputation and established its position in the field of popular science as a rival to the Chambers brothers' inexpensive popular science book, The National Encyclopedia.

Albert listened quietly to the introduction, completely stunned and speechless. He had originally thought that Imperial Publishing Company was nothing more than a high-class cultural salon with an aristocratic air, like many Parisian publishing houses, a private club founded by Sir Arthur Hastings in his leisure time.

But now it seems that the "empire" on the head of Imperial Publishing is by no means an empty title.

If you line up all the publications from Empire Publishing Company, it's practically a miniature history of British civilization.

Whether it's poets, novelists, playwrights, scientists, politicians, or even doctors and sailors, Imperial Publishing has them all under its umbrella.

It was only then that Albert finally understood why his uncle Leopold had said those things to him in Brussels.

"Whoever decides what a book should be printed, whoever decides what a newspaper should report, decides what people think. Politically, British sovereignty belongs to the voters. But spiritually, British sovereignty belongs to the printing press."

Thomas Barnes was considered by many to be able to decide the course of the election simply because he controlled the hugely circulated Times, and Barnes himself was even called "the most powerful man in Britain at present" by Viscount Palmerston.

If that's the case with The Times, what about Imperial Publishing?

Although Imperial Publishing's print run may not be as large as that of a daily newspaper like The Times, in Albert's current observations, Imperial Publishing's reach is far deeper than that of any other newspaper.

If The Times decides "what to discuss today," then Imperial Publishing decides "what people should believe tomorrow."

Thomas Barnes dictated the next election, but Sir Arthur Hastings dictated every future election, because Empire Publishing shaped the worldview of generations.

Albert didn't speak; he slightly raised his head, but couldn't hide his expression.

His lips stiffened for a moment, as if he wanted to give a polite smile, but he failed.

Arthur, who was showing Albert the sample book, noticed a slight change in Albert's expression and couldn't help but put down the documents in his hand and ask with concern, "Are you feeling unwell? The air in here might be a bit stuffy. Shall I have someone open the window?"

"Ah, no, no need. I guess I was just too tired last night. I'm not used to the all-night social dances in England. You probably don't know, I don't usually stay up late."

Arthur smiled, took a few steps closer, and casually opened a window: "It is indeed not easy to get used to. I don't know why, but the social atmosphere in London and Paris is quite different from other places. It seems like the gentlemen and ladies in these two cities never need to sleep."

“They don’t not need to sleep,” Disraeli yawned. “They just get up late. If you get up at 11 or 12 every day, you’ll definitely be full of energy at night. If Elder hadn’t come to see me, I would definitely have slept until 1 p.m. today.”

Elder pulled out his silver-rimmed pocket watch, the inside of which concealed an indescribable image, and snapped the cover open.

The hands on the dial steadily pointed to one o'clock and one quarter past the hour.

He shook his watch, looked up at everyone, and said in a light tone, "My God! It's almost lunchtime! Do you want to go to Green Restaurant for lunch? I heard they recently changed chefs, and their specialty is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside beef ribs. I went there with my colleagues from the Navy a while ago, and it was quite delicious."

As soon as Elder finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment.

Disraeli's lips twitched, Tennyson lowered his head, and Dickens kept giving Elder meaningful glances.

They all knew who Albert was, and that this charming young man was no ordinary "Arthur's Coburg friend." Only Elder, oblivious to the situation, could invite a prince to eat beef ribs without any hesitation.

Seeing this, Arthur wanted to speak up and smooth things over, but Albert reacted faster than anyone else.

“Really?” Albert’s eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up from the table. “That’s wonderful, I’m hungry too. Actually, I haven’t had lunch in a proper English restaurant since I came to London.”

As he spoke, he gently pushed the chair back into its original position: "But I forgot to bring any money with me today, could you lend me some?"

Upon hearing this, Disraeli almost instinctively reached for his wallet. The heavily indebted member of the House of Commons pulled out several gold pounds with the speed of someone putting out a fire: "Of course, of course! Please take them and use them; there's no rush to pay them back, Your Highness..."

He almost blurted out the word "Your Highness".

Tennyson coughed immediately, and Dickens kicked him under the table with the tip of his shoe at just the right moment.

Just before the atmosphere was about to completely spiral out of control, Elder laughed and swiftly grabbed Albert's shoulder before anyone else could.

“What do you mean by lending!” he said heartily, his tone as bold as a sailor who had just disembarked. “It’s my treat today! I just published my new book last week, and I just received my first royalty payment yesterday. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough for us to have a whole table of beef ribs, plus two bottles of fine Bordeaux.”

As the head of the Naval Chart Survey Bureau spoke, he patted Albert on the back, making Disraeli's heart nearly leap out of his throat.

But Albert wasn't angry.

He paused for a moment, then smiled: "Thank you very much. I haven't had the chance to ask you before. Who are you?"

"Me?" Elder laughed and pointed to the manuscript on the table. "You just chatted with Arthur for so long, saying how much you like Elder Carter's books. How come you don't recognize me when I'm standing right in front of you?"

(End of this chapter)