Abstract

This chapter discusses how Tennyson's public image was promoted and managed by his publisher, Edward Moxon and Co. Tennyson was sensitive about how he was perceived and when his publisher sought to profit from the poet's fame the relationship became increasingly problematic, especially when James Bertrand Payne took over the firm after the death of Edward Moxon. Payne's aggressive promotional tactics soured the relationship further, culminating in Tennyson leaving the firm in 1869. This chapter discusses how Payne's activities can be seen as an attempt to redefine the relationship between author and publisher and how illustrated editions, frontispiece portraits and entrepreneurial marketing tactics conflicted with Tennyson's idea of how the Poet Laureate should be presented to his public.