Tom Brown's School Days

New York, NY: Hurst and Company, 1918 Hurst and Company, New York. 1912 (?) Undated but titles of Dreadnought Boys Series advertised in the rear correspond to 1911-1912. Hardcover. Stated Sixth edition of the 1857 original by Macmillan. Retired library copy with library numbers and slips on rear endpapers. Book is tight, square, and unmarked but for a name and price in pencil on the FFFP and a F/O name on the front board. No DJ. Book Condition: Fair; heavy wear to head and tail; light wear to tips; soiling to textblock edges; checkout pocket and slip on rear pastedowns. No DJ. Rose colored cloth boards and spine with embossed floral design on the front board and spine; lacquer finish applied to boards and spine; yellow lettering on the spine and front board. 357 pp 12mo. This is one of the first books about boys and adventures in public school life loosely taken from the author's real life. Published in 1857, the author was looking to write a novel for boys that would tell about the public school life “in a right spirit but distinctly aimed at being interesting.” In it, he introduces us to Tom Brown—first describing his home village and his life there and then following Tom through his years at Rugby under Dr. Arnold. We are given Tom’s experiences as a new boy with everything from his first football match to being tossed in a blanket. And then follow him through the rigors of learning Latin and Greek to learning what it means to be a true British gentleman. We are taken over the countryside to investigate kestrel nests and to fish in forbidden waters; we see Tom defend a younger boy’s honor in his first and last fist fight; and finally we see Tom at the end of his school days as captain of the cricket team and having learned all his lessons well. A clean presentable copy.