Publishing the Three-Volume Novel: The Experience of Richard Bentley and Son

Abstract

Using the publisher’s account ledgers, this chapter examines the production of three-volume novels by Richard Bentley, one of the leading publishers of fiction during the Victorian period. Looking at the accounts for over one hundred titles published in the 1860s and 1880s, the analysis finds Bentley made a consistent, though not guaranteed, profit with the format through shrewd author contracts, low print runs, high retail prices, and steady sales to circulating libraries. In general, Bentley’s most successful authors were women writers such as Rhoda Broughton and Ellen Wood, who commanded the highest payments. Overall, Bentley found economic success with the three-volume novel throughout the century.