Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market: A Publishing History

As the lead poem in Christina Rossetti’s first collection, Goblin Market and Other Poems, ＂Goblin Market＂ stands both historically and literally as the gateway to Rossetti’s works. Despite its importance in the Rossetti canon, the publishing history of Rossetti’s famous poem remains incomplete. Maura Ives offers the first extended treatment of this neglected topic, mapping ＂Goblin Market＂’s publication history in collected editions and in standalone volumes in Britain and the United States. Topics covered include the poem’s composition, production, and marketing; contemporary reception; fine press, miniature, and mass market editions, including versions for children; and musical settings and adaptations. The volume concludes with an annotated list of archival sources and published versions of ＂Goblin Market,＂ followed by an extensive bibliography. Memorable not only for its vivid imagery and its disconcerting combination of sensuality and Christian symbolism, the absorption of ＂Goblin Market＂ into popular culture is readily evident to this day, with Rossetti’s poem serving as the title for a folk-rock duo, restaurants in Manhattan and Florida, and a number of books by other authors. Ives’s publishing history of ＂Goblin Market＂ sheds light on the longstanding critical and commercial appeal of this fascinating Victorian poem and on book publishing from the Victorian period to the present.

Maura Ives is associate professor of English at Texas A&M University, USA.