Toward a Woosterian Chronology

[Gamera]

Louann Miller wrote:

> Also: If Galahad Threepwood was determined to fix a young niece up with the
> man of her dreams, BUT the man of her dreams was Bertie Wooster and Jeeves
> disapproved, what would happen? Sort of the i.f. meeting the i.o. I suppose.

Nearly, I would think... but Jeeves, knowing, no doubt, of the memoirs,
would blackmail Gally into backing off...

Yours ever,
Miss Aileen Peavey

[Louann Miller]

This may have been covered extensively in the past -- if so, point me to the
appropriate site or FAQ and I'll make a noise like a hoop and roll away. But
is there any accepted linear time sequence for the different Wooster stories?
History in this little world seems to jump around at random.

The best I can do is clues from the text: i.e., any story with Lord Siddcup
takes place *after* any "Sir Roderick Spode" story but *before* any "Lord and
Lady (Madelyn) Siddcup" story. There are a few other such clues, but overall
I remain completely confused.

[Neil Midkiff]

In article <6ab4nt$kpa$2...@hermes.seas.smu.edu> mil...@cyberramp.net writes:
:Is there any accepted linear time sequence for the different Wooster stories?

: History in this little world seems to jump around at random.
:
:The best I can do is clues from the text: i.e., any story with Lord Siddcup
:takes place *after* any "Sir Roderick Spode" story but *before* any "Lord and
:Lady (Madelyn) Siddcup" story. There are a few other such clues, but overall
:I remain completely confused.

Here's a start at the Woosterian chronology, with the stories and books in
order of publication date. I'm making the basic assumption that unless the
story gives us specific contrary information, the publication order (in
magazines, for the short stories) is in proper internal time sequence.

The first six-digit number is year/month/day of first publication; the
four-character code is the story code in Dan Garrison's _Who's Who in
Wodehouse_, which I use as an abbreviation in my notes.

For the short stories, the next abbreviation is the name of the collections
they appear in:
M2L=The Man with Two Left Feet
MMJ=My Man Jeeves
COJ=Carry On, Jeeves
IJ=The Inimitable Jeeves, which is more than just a collection; the stories
were slightly revised from magazine versions, and provided with transitions
to link them into a coherent book. Some were split into two chapters with
new titles in the process; these are in parentheses.
VGJ=Very Good, Jeeves
FQO=A Few Quick Ones
PP=Plum Pie
In addition all the short stories but 15EY are in the World of Jeeves
omnibus = WoJ.
Book titles are in ALL CAPITALS. The first-listed title is that of the
first publication, which was sometimes England and sometimes America.

For the first several stories, I've included my notes on clues within the
text as to the time or sequence of the stories. I encourage others to
continue this process for later stories. As far as I can remember, the
novels were published in story sequence except for Ring for Jeeves/The
Return of Jeeves, which is a play adaptation in which Bertie is entirely
offstage, so it's not really relevant to a "Woosterian" chronology anyway.

-Neil Midkiff
========================================================================

150918 15EY M2L Extricating Young Gussie
Aunt Agatha is Mrs. Gregson; it's Bertie's first trip to NY, pre-
Prohibition, but post-1912, as a 1912 Irving Berlin song is parodied ("When
the midnight choo-choo leaves for Alabam'", if you must know).

160205 16AC MMJ,COJ The Artistic Career of Corky
immediately after 15EY, during Bertie's same "exile" in NY; covers a period
of several months

160422 16AS MMJ,COJ The Aunt and the Sluggard
after 16AC, in NY

161118 16JT COJ Jeeves Takes Charge
First chronologically, "about half a dozen years ago", so let's say 1910 or
thereabouts

161209 16JU MMJ,COJ Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest
in NY, about a year after 15EY; goes to stay with Rocky Todd w/o mentioning
his aunt, so probably before 16AS

170303 17JH MMJ,COJ Jeeves and the Hard Boiled Egg
in NY after had been in America a few months, so earlier than 16JU and 16AS
as well as the closing part of 16AC

180608 18JC IJ Jeeves and the Chump Cyril (A Letter of
Introduction/Startling Dressiness of a Lift Attendant in IJ)
in NY, time not clear from WoJ version, but IJ version is just after 22SR

211201 21JS IJ Jeeves in the Springtime (Jeeves Exerts the Old
Cerebellum/No Wedding Bells for Bingo in IJ)
first Bingo Little story
postWWI - Jeeves refers to wartime propaganda

220201 22SO IJ Scoring Off Jeeves (The Pride of the Woosters is
Wounded/The Hero's Reward in IJ)
in WoJ follows 21JS as original magazine publication; in IJ follows much
revised version of 22AA
First Honoria Glossop story, with Bingo in love with her then with Daphne
Braythwayt, and Aunt Agatha trying to get Bertie to marry Honoria

220301 22SR IJ Sir Roderick Comes To Lunch (Introducing Claude and
Eustace/Sir R. Comes to Lunch in IJ)
immediately succeeds 22SO in all versions

220401 22AA IJ Aunt Agatha Takes the Count (revised as Aunt Agatha
Speaks Her Mind/Pearls Mean Tears in IJ)
in WoJ follows 22SR as original magazine publication; in IJ follows 21JS
with revised introduction

220501 22CB IJ Comrade Bingo (Comrade Bingo/Bingo Has a Bad
Goodwood in IJ)
follows 21JS, as Bingo's Uncle Mortimer Little is now Lord Bittlesham, but
in July of the same year as 21JS
just after trip to France (22AA) in WoJ, trip to America (18JC) in IJ

220601 22SH IJ The Great Sermon Handicap
immediately follows 22CB, in August

220701 22PT IJ The Purity of the Turf
immediately follows 22SH

220801 22BC COJ Bertie Changes His Mind [narr. Jeeves]
undatable except that it's some time after the purple socks of 18JC

220901 22MT IJ The Metropolitan Touch
immediately follows 22PT, in November

221001 22EC IJ The (Delayed) Exit of Claude and Eustace
some time after 22SR

221101 22BL IJ Bingo and the Little Woman (Bingo and the Little
Woman/All's Well in IJ)
about a week after 22EC, in IJ version

230517 IJ23 THE INIMITABLE JEEVES
240927 24RA COJ The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy
250221 25CR COJ Clustering Round Young Bingo
250627 25WO COJ Without the Option
251009 26FF COJ Fixing It for Freddie
260401 26IC VGJ The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy
261201 26JI VGJ Jeeves and the Impending Doom
271201 27JY VGJ Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit
290901 29JS VGJ Jeeves and the Song of Songs
291001 29JD VGJ Jeeves and the Dog McIntosh
291101 29JL VGJ Jeeves and the Love That Purifies
291201 29SA VGJ Jeeves and the Spot of Art
300101 30JK VGJ Jeeves and the Kid Clementina
300201 30JO VGJ Jeeves and the Old School Chum
300301 30IS VGJ Indian Summer of an Uncle
300401 30TC VGJ Tuppy Changes His Mind (The Ordeal of Young Tuppy)
340316 TY34 THANK YOU, JEEVES
341005 RH34 RIGHT HO, JEEVES (Brinkley Manor)
381007 CW38 THE CODE OF THE WOOSTERS
460822 JM46 JOY IN THE MORNING (Jeeves in the Morning)
490909 MS49 THE MATING SEASON
530422 RJ53 RING FOR JEEVES (The Return of Jeeves)
541015 JF54 JEEVES AND THE FEUDAL SPIRIT (Bertie Wooster Sees It
Through)
590801 59JM FQO Jeeves Makes an Omelet (Jeeves and the Stolen
Venus)
600404 HR60 HOW RIGHT YOU ARE, JEEVES (Jeeves in the Offing)
630322 SU63 STIFF UPPER LIP, JEEVES
651201 65JG PP Jeeves and the Greasy Bird
711015 MO71 MUCH OBLIGED, JEEVES (Jeeves and the Tie That Binds)
741017 AA74 AUNTS AREN'T GENTLEMEN (The Cat-Nappers)