View source for Archival Evidence

The Waste Land was published for the first time simultaneously in ''The Criterion'' in London and in ''The Dial'' in New York in October 1922. Let's take a look at the content surrounding the poem in both magazines and elsewhere.

==Structure of the Poem==
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A close side by side reading of "The Waste Land" as it appears in the 1922 October issue of ''The Criterion'' and 1922 November issue of ''The Dial'' beg inquiries as to the organicism of the texts--is either edition more inherently Eliot?  Do the slightly different versions of the poem reveal editorial constructs or bias in keeping with "American" or "British" literary doctrines?  It is difficult to conceive, and perhaps impossible to finger any specific text as more canonical than the other.  In fact, the ''Norton Critical Edition'''s editor, Michael North, posits that the Boni and Liveright edition (which was released in December of the same year) "should have priority" (Norton XII).

Nevertheless, an analysis of both of the original publications reveals an additional layer of complexity to a scholarly investigation of Eliot's most famous poem.  Despite minor inconsistencies, a more holistic understanding of Eliot's work emerges--the unifying principle enveloping "The Waste Land" is that truth, though affected by and altogether vulnerable to external circumstance or will, is canonized by its textual integrity.

It is important to note that Eliot was actually serving as an editor for ''The Criterion'' during the time when his poem, "The Waste Land" was published.  Interestingly, it was in ''The Dial'' that "The Waste Land" was headlined before other literary contributions.  Although the location of the poem's debut may have been more ideal in the American publication, it is worth questioning whether Eliot had more direct authority over the format of the poem as it appears in ''The Criterion''.

Although the differences in pagination are slight, they are noteworthy, especially considering the fact that Eliot may have been directly connected to the pagination of ''The Criterion''.  In particular, breaks between the stanzas in ''The Criterion'' appear more frequently than in ''The Dial''.  A reading of the poem in ''The Criterion'' is markedly easier than in ''The Dial'', perhaps due to these intentional pauses incorporated throughout.  Another difference in the format of ''The Dial'' is found where various first lines are aligned on the right side of the page.  In ''The Criterion'', these lines are indented much further than normal, but they do not appear to have been structured as chaotically.  Whereas the format of ''The Criterion'' seems to emphasize clarity and order, the format affixed to the poem in The Dial may indicate preconceptions on the part of the American editor concerning Eliot's style.  The co-author of this page makes this hypothesis in part because the American format is reminiscent of earlier American poetry (i.e. Whitman) which utilized long lines and large stanzas.  Perhaps the American editor simply produced "The Waste Land" in the way he best knew how--as a dramatic, narrative poem.

The editorial differences between ''The Dial'' and ''The Criterion'' are enshrouded in further mystery.  In ''The Dial'', there is an epigraph for the poem that relays dialogue taken from the ''Satyricon''.   For some reason, this part of the poem was completely deleted from ''The Criterion''.  Of course, a structure of the poem that was deleted in ''The Dial'''s edition is the enumeration of specific sections (ie. A Game of Chess I).  Similarly, the American editor italicized any usage of foreign language in the poem; however, ''The Criterion'' maintains a regular font for any European language utilized by Eliot.  There is no explanation or admittance of these variances in the text.

==Globalization==
In both ''The Dial'' and ''The Criterion'', evidence of globalization and cross-cultural receptivity abounds.  This is more evident in ''The Dial'', especially upon inspection of its advertisements.  Though the collaborators were surprised not to find any ads juxtaposed alongside text, ''The Dial'' instead allocated primary and secondary sections--at the front and back of the periodical respectively--for commercial bulletins.  In the first section of advertisements that precedes the literary text, the editor installed ads for literary publishers of modernist books and a magazine.  It is clear that ''The Dial'' specifically targeted a bibliophile audience, as the majority of all the periodical's ads cater to an intellectual and spatial readership.

''The Dial'''s advertisements reveal multicultural intrigue, albeit, from a safe distance.  In the supplementary section of advertisements there is evidence of a great deal of upper-class marketing.  Solicitors invite readers to Oriental rug wholesalers, Jewelry dealers, Russian tea rooms, Spanish themed vacations, patronage to The Plaza hotel in New York and Boston, and to purchase multi-volume literary collections from such venerated authors as Mark Twain and Joseph Conrad.  Though the advertisements do suggest a post-war fascination with the exotic, they also implicate intellectual and societal elitism.  One may inquire whether the "worldly" audience could have included the minorities it so fancifully publicizes.

This marks a fascination with the globalization that began as a result of WWI. Soldiers had traveled abroad and seen alternative forms of society function.  Not only was there an increased aesthetic interest in global commodities, but these magazines indicate that there was an incresed interest in intellectual diversity. For example, in ''the Dial'', there are multiple European contributors, including Austrian author, Arthur Schnitzler, whose novel ''Doctor Graesler'' was translated from German into English for this publication.  Other contributors to the New York magazine were either European, or were Americans relocated to Europe.  Robert Delaunay was the French artist, whose modern-gothic painting is reproduced beside ''The Dial'''s debut of "The Waste Land."  Delaunay was an avant-gard, Orphism artist, thus, the selection by editors to include his art within The Dial is in keeping with the culture of curiosity demonstrated by the New York readership.

==Thematic Coherence==

==Surprising Content==
We are surprised to have found some of the things that are in the Dial in an American publication in in 1922. To name a few:
Adolf Dehn's "Drinkers" - a painting of alcoholic beverages and their consumption. In 1922, Prohibition was still in effect in the United States. We were surprised that a literary magazine that is geared toward intellectuals would contain content that depicts something illegal.