Citations:

  • George MacDonald, “The Bell: A Sketch in Pen and Ink,” in Adela Cathcart (London: Publisher, 1864).
  • George MacDonald, The Wow o’ Rivven, or the Idiot’s Home, ed. Dora Greenwell for the Royal Albert Idiot Asylum (London: Strahan & Co., 1868).

Bulloch (1925):

The Wow o’ Rivven, or the idiot’s home. By George MacDonald, edited for the Royal Albert Idiot Asylum (Lancaster), by Dora Greenwell. London: Strahan & Co., 1868.

8vo, pp. 28 + 2, with a woodcut frontispiece, illustrating the idiot.

This story deals with the fool who was buried in the Church of Ruthven, Aberdeenshire, which MacDonald visited for the first time in July, 1891, describing the place in a letter to his wife (“George MacDonald and his wife,” p. 521).

  • 1864. The story first appeared as “The Bell,” a sketch with an illustration of the idiot in Good Words (Feb. 1864: v., 153-159); and then as
  • 1864. “The Bell: a sketch in pen and ink” in (i., 241-275) “Adela Cathcart” (1864), being omitted from the 1883 edition.
  • 1871. Reprinted in (x., 129-165) “Works of and fancy imagination,” which was reissued in 1876 and 1884.
  • 1909. Reprinted in (pp. 192-208) “The Portent and other stories,” published by Fisher Unwin.

These publication pages are a collaborative effort of members of The George MacDonald Society. We welcome comments on the individual publication pages to help improve the scope, accuracy, and utility of the descriptions.