With mass production of quality goods came an advertising industry. In Germany Karl Langewiesche founded a publishing house with the aim of producing and selling “pleasant mass articles at the lowest of prices”. He discovered new ways to reach what he called the uneducated masses with his book – the display poster in shops and the advertising text on the dust cover – the blurb. The first time this happened was on a German book in 1902. And the company is still around today, publishing art-related books.
But the man who originated the word blurb as a short description used for advertising purposes was Gelett Burgess. Burgess was a humourist and art critic and even founded a humorous children’s magazine called The Lark – which ran for 24 issues, starting with the masterpiece poem!
I never saw a purple cow
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather seen than be one!
To advertise one of his own books, Are you a Bromide? his publisher allowed him to go overboard with his new idea. On the book there is a picture of a woman shouting. She is named “Miss Belinda Blurb” in the act of blurbing and the headline states “Yes this is a blurb!” It is followed by unbelievably positive recommendation including the sentence “When you read this masterpiece, you’ll know what a book is”. A limited edition was presented at a book publishers dinner and since then there has been no escape. The idea was a success, so much so that Burgess was able to joke about just how wonderful and creative he was in an ironic way. In a book with definitions of nonsense words Burgess Unabridged (1914), sandwiched between pages of nonsense, he slips in a definition about his own invention, “A flamboyant advertisement; an inspired testimonial”. This turns about to be how Burgess was remembered, perhaps not the way he wanted to be, but the way it was.
Did you like the article? Then please like and share it on Facebook, tweet it on Twitter or add it in Google+.
