Harcourt interpolation
Encyclopedia
The Harcourt interpolation was a scandal of Victorian London
in which a rogue compositor inserted an obscene remark into a page proof for The Times
newspaper, in the middle of a speech by a leading politician of the day. The addition was not noticed until after the first edition had been printed and efforts to recall the copies were not entirely successful.
Sir Henry James
and Home Secretary
Sir William Harcourt
, went to Burton upon Trent
to open the St Paul's Institute, afterwards addressing speeches towards a crowd of between 7,000 and 8,000. The Times decided to print a verbatim report of both speeches in the edition to be published on the following morning, Monday 23 January 1882.
The Times compositors were in dispute with the newspaper management and the report of Harcourt's speech printed in the first edition read:
The interpolation was not noticed until after the first edition had been printed and distributed. The Times sent out urgent telegraph messages to recall all unsold copies.
, when spotted the line was replaced by stars in subsequent editions. Talk about the misprint became widespread and many curious people sought to see it; this demand combined with the restricted supply due to The Times efforts to recall all copies containing it, to raise the market price of editions containing it. A newspaper with a cover price of 3d.
was changing hands for 12s.
6d.
by the middle of the morning. Sir Edward Walter Hamilton
noted in his diary on 26 January that copies were selling "at all sorts of fancy prices" and reported that Lord Wolverton
had told him they were fetching 20s.
at Brighton on 25 January.
Sir Edward Walter Hamilton noted that the effect of this paragraph was to draw "more attention than ever to the compositor's obscene line". The incident was reported by the Portuguese writer, journalist and diplomat Eça de Queiroz in an article which now forms part of his book Cartas de Inglaterra
. Samuel Palmer, in compiling a quarterly index to The Times, included a reference:
Bob Clarke, author of 'From Grub Street to Fleet Street', reported that a copy of The Times featuring the misprint had changed hands for £100 at an auction in the mid-1990s.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in which a rogue compositor inserted an obscene remark into a page proof for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper, in the middle of a speech by a leading politician of the day. The addition was not noticed until after the first edition had been printed and efforts to recall the copies were not entirely successful.
Article
In January 1882, as Parliament was not sitting, The Times included lengthy verbatim reports from speeches given by politicians outside Parliament. On Sunday 22 January, the Attorney GeneralAttorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
Sir Henry James
Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford
Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford GCVO, PC, QC , known as Sir Henry James between 1873 and 1895, was an Anglo-Welsh lawyer and statesman. Initially a Liberal, he served under William Ewart Gladstone as Solicitor General in 1873 and as Attorney-General between 1873 and 1874 and 1880 and 1885...
and Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
Sir William Harcourt
William Vernon Harcourt (politician)
Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of...
, went to Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. Its associated adjective is "Burtonian"....
to open the St Paul's Institute, afterwards addressing speeches towards a crowd of between 7,000 and 8,000. The Times decided to print a verbatim report of both speeches in the edition to be published on the following morning, Monday 23 January 1882.
The Times compositors were in dispute with the newspaper management and the report of Harcourt's speech printed in the first edition read:
The interpolation was not noticed until after the first edition had been printed and distributed. The Times sent out urgent telegraph messages to recall all unsold copies.
Removal
According to the collector of erotic literature Henry Spencer AshbeeHenry Spencer Ashbee
Henry Spencer Ashbee was a book collector, writer, and bibliographer, notorious for his massive, clandestine three volume bibliography of erotic literature written under the pseudonym of Pisanus Fraxi.-Life:...
, when spotted the line was replaced by stars in subsequent editions. Talk about the misprint became widespread and many curious people sought to see it; this demand combined with the restricted supply due to The Times efforts to recall all copies containing it, to raise the market price of editions containing it. A newspaper with a cover price of 3d.
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
was changing hands for 12s.
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
6d.
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
by the middle of the morning. Sir Edward Walter Hamilton
Edward Walter Hamilton
Sir Edward Hamilton was political diarist and one time private secretary to William Ewart Gladstone when in 1880 when Gladstone became Prime Minister for the second time...
noted in his diary on 26 January that copies were selling "at all sorts of fancy prices" and reported that Lord Wolverton
George Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton
George Grenfell Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton PC , was a British Liberal politician. He held office in three of the Liberal administrations of William Ewart Gladstone.-Background:...
had told him they were fetching 20s.
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
at Brighton on 25 January.
Apology
A revised copy was printed for subscribers and for libraries which kept bound copies, but The Times wrote nothing more about the incident immediately. Sir Edward Walter Hamilton noted on 26 January that Sir William Harcourt had not received an apology, and wrote that "Harcourt will never hear the end of it" (although Hamilton regarded the story primarily as amusing). However an apology appeared in the issue for Friday 27 January 1882:Sir Edward Walter Hamilton noted that the effect of this paragraph was to draw "more attention than ever to the compositor's obscene line". The incident was reported by the Portuguese writer, journalist and diplomat Eça de Queiroz in an article which now forms part of his book Cartas de Inglaterra
Cartas de Inglaterra
Cartas de Inglaterra is a collection of journalism by the 19th century Portuguese novelist Eça de Queiroz. He worked in the Portuguese consular service and was stationed at Newcastle upon Tyne from late 1874 until April 1879; from then until 1888 he was at Bristol...
. Samuel Palmer, in compiling a quarterly index to The Times, included a reference:
Later developments
According to Peter Brown, production editor of The Times in 1992, the compositor responsible was identified after an inquiry as G. Price; fellow Times journalist Philip Howard described him as "a disgruntled compositor who had been given his cards". A few months later a similar addition was made to an advertisement for the book Everyday Life in Our Public Schools in the issue of The Times for 12 June 1882. This book was said to include "a glossary of some words used by Henry Irving in his disquisitions upon fucking, which is in common use in these schools". The Times maintained a dignified silence about this, but for many years after it was a rule on the paper that any compositor who was sacked left immediately with a payoff and did not work out a period of notice. The copy of the edition containing the misprint which was delivered to the Library of the British Museum, was removed from the general collection and suppressed.Bob Clarke, author of 'From Grub Street to Fleet Street', reported that a copy of The Times featuring the misprint had changed hands for £100 at an auction in the mid-1990s.