ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to situate Ford Madox Ford’s posthumous reception in the popular press within the broader narrative revealed by the archival material. It serves as a starting point for such future work. The chapter examines the early reception through Ford’s relationship to James, Wells, and Pound. Any analysis of Ford’s reception history is indebted to David Dow Harvey’s indefatigable bibliography, which remains invaluable to Ford scholars. Although Henry James does not comment upon Ford’s work in the popular press, his influence dominates reviews of Ford’s early work. Others―H. G. Wells, Ernest Hemingway, and Jessie Conrad, for example―lack nuance in their portraits of Ford, indicting his preference for highly subjective impressions, and often expressing more personal jealousies and/or grievances. Ezra Pound is Ford’s vocal champion throughout the reception history. Ford’s early reception, from the publication of The Brown Owl to Thus to Revisit, is marked by attempts to categorise him in terms of genre and influence.
