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The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family — Inside the Classic

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In Category - Historical Psychological Social Fiction

Authors: Thackeray, William Makepeace, 1811-1863 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2005 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Domestic fiction; Families -- England -- Fiction Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 376,333

Reading time 1637 min

Text sections 81

The source record for The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family — Inside the Classic measures this digital text at 376,333 words, 27 hr 17 min estimated reading time, and 81 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 20.6 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Domestic fiction,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #7467

Thackeray's novel uses a theatrical overture and chapter titles to frame the Newcome family's story, with recurring motifs of burning papers and art as a counterpoint to respectability. The narrator Arthur Pendennis guides readers through shifting scenes from London to Rome.

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

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File: pg7467

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CHAPTER I. The Overture—After which the Curtain rises upon a Drinking Chorus CHAPTER II. Colonel Newcome’s Wild Oats CHAPTER III. Colonel Newcome’s Letter-box CHAPTER IV. In which the Author and the Hero resume their Acquaintance CHAPTER V. Clive’s Uncles CHAPTER VI. Newcome Brothers CHAPTER VII. In which Mr. Clive’s School-days are over CHAPTER VIII. Mrs. Newcome at Home (a Small Early Party) CHAPTER IX. Miss Honeyman’s CHAPTER X. Ethel and her Relations CHAPTER XI. At Mrs. Ridley’s CHAPTER XII. In which everybody is asked to Dinner CHAPTER XIII. In which Thomas Newcome sings his Last Song CHAPTER XIV. Park Lane CHAPTER XV. The Old Ladies CHAPTER XVI. In which Mr. Sherrick lets his House in Fitzroy Square CHAPTER XVII. A School of Art CHAPTER XVIII. New Companions CHAPTER XIX. The Colonel at Home CHAPTER XX. Contains more Particulars of the Colonel and his Brethren CHAPTER XXI. Is Sentimental, but Short CHAPTER XXII. Describes a Visit to Paris; with Accidents and Incidents in London CHAPTER XXIII. In which we hear a Soprano and a Contralto CHAPTER XXIV. In which the Newcome Brothers once more meet together in Unity CHAPTER XXV. Is passed in a Public-house CHAPTER XXVI. In which Colonel Newcome’s Horses are sold CHAPTER XXVII. Youth and Sunshine CHAPTER XXVIII. In which Clive begins to see the World CHAPTER XXIX. In which Barnes comes a-wooing CHAPTER XXX. A Retreat CHAPTER XXXI. Madame la Duchesse CHAPTER XXXII. Barnes’s Courtship CHAPTER XXXIII. Lady Kew at the Congress CHAPTER XXXIV. The End of the Congress of Baden CHAPTER XXXV. Across the Alps CHAPTER XXXVI. In which M. de Florac is promoted CHAPTER XXXVII. Returns to Lord Kew CHAPTER XXXVIII. In which Lady Kew leaves his Lordship quite convalescent CHAPTER XXXIX. Amongst the Painters CHAPTER XL. Returns from Rome to Pall Mall CHAPTER XLI. An Old Story CHAPTER XLII. Injured Innocence CHAPTER XLIII. Returns to some Old Friends CHAPTER XLIV. In which Mr. Charles Honeyman appears in an Amiable Light CHAPTER XLV. A Stag of Ten CHAPTER XLVI. The Hotel de Florac CHAPTER XLVII. Contains two or three Acts of a Little Comedy CHAPTER XLVIII. In which Benedick is a Married Man CHAPTER XLIX. Contains at least six more Courses and two Desserts CHAPTER L. Clive in New Quarters CHAPTER LI. An Old Friend CHAPTER LII. Family Secrets CHAPTER LIII. In which Kinsmen fall out CHAPTER LIV. Has a Tragical Ending CHAPTER LV. Barnes’s Skeleton Closet CHAPTER LVI. Rosa quo locorum sera moratur CHAPTER LVII. Rosebury and Newcome CHAPTER LVIII. “One more Unfortunate” CHAPTER LIX. In which Achilles loses Briseis CHAPTER LX. In which we write to the Colonel CHAPTER LXI. In which we are introduced to a New Newcome CHAPTER LXII. Mr. and Mrs. Clive Newcome CHAPTER LXIII. Mrs. Clive at Home CHAPTER LXIV. Absit Omen CHAPTER LXV. In which Mrs. Clive comes into her Fortune CHAPTER LXVI. In which the Colonel and the Newcome Athenæum are both lectured CHAPTER LXVII. Newcome and Liberty CHAPTER LXVIII. A Letter and a Reconciliation CHAPTER LXIX. The Election CHAPTER LXX. Chiltern Hundreds CHAPTER LXXI. In which Mrs. Clive Newcome’s Carriage is ordered CHAPTER LXXII. Belisarius CHAPTER LXXIII. In which Belisarius returns from Exile CHAPTER LXXIV. In which Clive begins the World CHAPTER LXXV. Founder’s Day at the Grey Friars CHAPTER LXXVI. Christmas at Rosebury CHAPTER LXXVII. The Shortest and Happiest in the Whole History CHAPTER LXXVIII. In which the Author goes on a Pleasant Errand CHAPTER LXXIX. In which Old Friends come together CHAPTER LXXX. In which the Colonel says “Adsum” when his Name is called

CHAPTER I. The Overture—After which the Curtain rises upon a Drinking Chorus

A crow, who had flown away with a cheese from a dairy-window, sate perched on a tree looking down at a great big frog in a pool underneath him. The frog’s hideous large eyes were goggling out of his head in a manner which appeared quite ridiculous to the old blackamoor, who watched the splay-footed slimy wretch with that peculiar grim humour belonging to crows. Not far from the frog a fat ox was browsing; whilst a few lambs frisked about the meadow, or nibbled the grass and buttercups there.

Who should come in to the farther end of the field but a wolf? He was so cunningly dressed up in sheep’s clothing, that the very lambs did not know Master Wolf; nay, one of them, whose dam the wolf had just eaten, after which he had thrown her skin over his shoulders, ran up innocently towards the devouring monster, mistaking him for her mamma.

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Thackeray opens The Newcomes with a theatrical overture, calling the first chapter “The Overture—After which the Curtain rises upon a Drinking Chorus.” This framing device signals that the novel will be self-consciously staged, with the narrator Arthur Pendennis acting as a showman. The chapter titles themselves—such as “Colonel Newcome’s Wild Oats” and “Mrs. Newcome at Home (a Small Early Party)”—function as program notes, hinting at the episodic, scene-based structure that follows.

The narrative moves between domestic interiors, artists’ studios, and European resorts, with each location carrying its own tone. A recurring image is the burning of paper: in one scene, Ethel points to the fireplace where “some torn fragments and ashes of paper” lie, the same fireplace where Clive’s sketches had been burned. This motif of destruction and loss recurs throughout, linking personal history to material remains.

The Overture as Structural Blueprint

The novel’s first chapter is explicitly labeled an overture, a musical term that suggests themes to come. Thackeray uses this to establish the narrator’s voice and the novel’s ironic tone. The drinking chorus that follows immediately immerses the reader in a social ritual, setting up the importance of clubs, dinners, and family gatherings as stages for conflict. Later chapters like “In which everybody is asked to Dinner” and “Contains at least six more Courses and two Desserts” continue this pattern, using meals as structural markers. The overture also introduces the idea of the Newcomes as a “most respectable family,” a phrase the novel will repeatedly test.

Burning Papers and Lost Records

Throughout the excerpts, paper appears as a fragile, often destroyed object. Ethel’s refusal to show Lady Kew a letter leads to its burning: “There it is,” said Ethel pointing to the fireplace, where there lay some torn fragments and ashes of paper. The narrator notes this is “the same fireplace at which Clive’s sketches had been burned.” This repetition links two generations—Clive’s art and Ethel’s correspondence—through a shared act of destruction. Paper also appears in the Colonel’s letter-box and in chapter titles like “Colonel Newcome’s Letter-box,” suggesting that letters are both carriers of plot and vulnerable to loss. The novel’s interest in what survives and what is consumed by fire gives a material weight to its domestic drama.

Artists and Their Studios as Alternative Spaces

Chapter XXXIX, “Amongst the Painters,” offers a sustained meditation on the artist’s life. Thackeray contrasts the painter’s sociable labor with the solitary work of a poet or lawyer: “A poet must retire to privy places and meditate his rhymes in secret; a painter can practise his trade in the company of friends.” Clive’s Roman days are described as “amongst the happiest which fate ever awarded him,” a rare moment of unqualified contentment. The studio becomes a space where rank and respectability loosen—the “humblest painter” may have a wife or friend beside him. This section stands apart from the family intrigues of London, offering a counterpoint to the Newcomes’ social climbing. The novel’s movement between these two worlds—the artist’s studio and the drawing-room—creates a structural tension between creativity and convention.

Shifting Scenes: From London to Rome and Back

The table of contents reveals a restless geography: London addresses like Park Lane and Fitzroy Square, Paris, Baden, Rome, and the Alps. Chapters such as “Across the Alps” and “Returns from Rome to Pall Mall” emphasize travel as both literal and metaphorical. The Congress of Baden chapters (XXXIII–XXXIV) suggest a diplomatic setting where family negotiations mirror international politics. This movement prevents any single location from dominating, keeping the reader aware of the Newcomes’ social orbit as a network of places. The narrator’s editorial voice—Pendennis is named as editor—further distances the reader, framing the story as a curated collection of scenes rather than a continuous narrative.

Readers will find that Thackeray’s chapter titles are more than decorative; they guide attention to key actions and settings. Pay particular attention to what is burned, torn, or hidden—these moments often carry emotional weight. The novel’s length (over 376,000 words) rewards those who follow its scenic structure rather than expecting a tight plot. The presence of Pendennis as editor invites skepticism about the reliability of the family’s “respectable” image.

Reading about burning papers in The Newcomes, I recalled my grandfather's study—how he’d feed old letters to the fire each spring, never explaining. That same wistfulness returned with The Caxtons: A Family Picture — Volume 06 — Edition Insights, where family quietness feels like a held breath. Both books let silence speak more than any scene ever could.