From Serial to Book: Leacock’s Revisions to Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town

Abstract

Stephen Leacock’s beloved humour classic Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town began as a series of pieces in the Montreal Daily Star in 1912, the same year it was eventually published as a book. The changes that Leacock made between the serialization of Sketches and its publication as a complete literary text, including character name changes, the addition of an autobiographical preface, and the combination of sketches, suggest that he was aware of his audience’s reaction to the piece. The conditions of serial publishing, including seeing his own beloved mother’s unfavourable response to the portrayal of some residents of Mariposa (a thinly disguised Orillia), may have influenced the direction of Sketches. Evidence suggests that Leacock attempted to avoid giving offence. Leacock’s revisions also shed light on his views on the purpose of humour, which he saw as kindly – that is, between the sentimental and the satirical, and without malice.