  The absence of an exhaustive bibliography of novels published in the British
Isles and Ireland during the 19th century blocks several lines of research in
sociologically-inclined literary history and book history. Without a detailed
account of novelistic production, it is difficult to characterize, for example,
the population of individuals who pursued careers as novelists. This paper
contributes to efforts to develop such an account by estimating yearly rates of
new novel publication in the British Isles and Ireland between 1789 and 1919.
This period witnessed, in aggregate, the publication of between 40,000 and
63,000 previously unpublished novels. The number of new novels published each
year counts as essential information for researchers interested in
understanding the development of the text industry between 1789 and 1919.
