Books

First edition. Small 8vo. Period crushed morocco, five raised bands, gilt titles and compartments. T.E.G. Teal coated endpapers. viii, 420 pp. Bookplates of Charles Cobb Walker to front endpapers, who donated his books to the New England Conservatory of Music, ex library stamp to the title-page and 1 page inside, no other markings, original cloth bound in at rear. Morocco sunned to extremities, minor wear to joints. Some very minor sporadic foxing, a few smudges, else fine. Hughes attended Rugby School from 1834 to 1842. His love for the celebrated progressive headmaster Thomas Arnold and for games and boyish high spirits are captured in this semi-autobiographical novel. "The novel's opening paragraphs constitute one of the great evocations of Englishness . Vivid scenes of the trouncing of bullies, and the glories of the cricket and football fields, enliven the narrative, which also has much emphasis on boxing, for Hughes believed passionately in the healthiness and manliness of a fair fight" (ODNB). Despite numerous titles about English schools that predate it, this book is widely credited with popularizing and influencing the school story genre. Sadleir 1234, Wolff 3331.