Home Chimes

[tikit]

I have two bound copies of the magazine 'Home Chimes' both containing 'Gossips Corner' by Jerome K Jerome but I can find no reference to this on the site. I think they are from 1887 but was wondering if anyone could confirm this?

[jesthepres]

Home Chimes was, of course, the magazine in which the essays that would eventually appear as The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow and the original version of Three Men in a Boat, were first published. At present, we do not have a complete list of all JKJ's writing for Home Chimes (though we hope to publish these on the website shortly). More irritatingly, I had to omit this information when compiling the Jerome bibliography for the Society's new book Idle Thoughts on Jerome K Jerome. In this, however, is an appreciation of F W Robinson, the founder-editor of Home Chimes. Jerome wrote no more for the magazine after 1889 and it folded in 1894.
It would be good to know which pieces you have in Gossips' Corner - they sound as though they might be the pieces that made their way into The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.

[tikit]

There are twelve "Gossips Corner" in total, 6 in each volume. As they do not have titles how much infomation would you like to help identify them?

[jesthepres]

Would it be too much to ask you to type out the opening sentence of each essay...? I can then check with the text in The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.

[snewsom]

I have Vol 1 of Home Chimes - labelled 'New Series' and dated 1886.
  It has two JKJ articles - 'On cats and dogs' which is in your bibliography,
and 'on reading  and writing' which is not.  This  is as well as 'gossips corner'.

I also have one issue of 'Chimes' dayed March 1894, which has an article and photo  of  JKJ, but none of his writing.
If 1886 was the new  series - any ideas about an old series ??

Bill Newsom

[Ellie]

Would it be too much to ask you to type out the opening sentence of each essay...? I can then check with the text in The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.

I have a copy of Home Chimes compilation - Re - opening lines of Gossips Corner as requested above -
1. A Happy new year to you reader - I won't say "dear reader" because you might me a married womam, or something of that sort and in these days when members of my miserable sex are made co-respondents for shaking hands with a lady in the street, one has to be careful. It is just twelve months since I last - and first wished you that wish in these pages
2. Too much Jubilee, we are all suffering from, I fancy, just at thepresent. We have arranged and rearranged,discussed,argued,quarelled,agreed and thrashed out the matter so long that it has become a weariness unto the flesh; and we are sick of the whole thing before it has begun
3.I wonder what a sham fight is like. I've been always making up my mind to see the Easter Volunteer Review, but somehow or other,something or another has always prevented the citizen soldiers of this country from having the advantage of my patronage at their yearly show-
Hope this helps with the above request - there are a few more if you need them!!
Ellie



H

[jesthepres]

Thanks Ellie. I have now received the following from Frank Rodgers:
The "Gossips' Corner" contributions by JKJ in Home Chimes are entirely different from the essays collected in Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.
 
Home Chimes began as a weekly just before the end of 1883.  After issuing three volumes as a weekly, it changed to a monthly ("New series vol. 1 no. 1") in February 1886. 
 
JKJ's first contribution was in vol. 1, no. 25 (21 June 1884).  It was a one page item entitled "The Office Boy." 
 
The Idle Thoughts essays began in vol. 1, no. 40 (4 October 1884) with "On Being Hard Up" and continued to "On Reading and Writing" in New series vol.1 no. 2, March 1886.  This last essay is not included in the published volume of Idle Thoughts.
 
His "Gossips' Corner" began in New series vol. 1 no. 1, February 1886 and continued until
New series vol. 6 no. 6, January 1889.