The Argosy

Catalog Note This volume of *The Argosy* (Volume XLVII, January-June 1889) contains diverse fiction and verse. The principal serial is "The Village Blacksmith," a domestic narrative in eighteen chapters illustrated by William Small, following Reuben Foreman, a physically powerful, religiously devout blacksmith in Westshire village who employs dramatic preaching methods using his forge as a metaphor for damnation. The story centers on conflicts between the blacksmith, the Anglican Rector Mr. Ryot Tempest (a man of small stature and proud bearing), and various village inhabitants. A secondary serial, "Featherston's Story: At the Maison Rouge," by Johnny Ludlow (Mrs. Henry Wood), appears intermittently throughout. Additional contents include a four-part "Dreams" sequence, travel writing by Charles W. Wood on Malta, Rome, and maritime subjects, poetry by E. Nesbit and others, stories of adventure and sentiment, and biographical essays on historical and cultural figures including Adelaide Ristori and Gustavo Bécquer.