 7th reprint | |
| Author | Robert Tressell |
|---|---|
| Genre | Semi-autobiographical novel |
| Publisher | Grant Richards Ltd. |
Publication date | 23 April 1914 |
| Publication place | England |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 391 (first edition) |
| OCLC | 7571041 |
| Text | The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists at Wikisource |
The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists (1914) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Irish house painter and sign writer Robert Noonan, who wrote the book in his spare time under the pen name Robert Tressell. Published after Tressell's death from tuberculosis in the Liverpool Royal Infirmary in 1911, the novel follows a house painter's efforts to find work in the fictional English town of Mugsborough (based on the coastal town of Hastings) to stave off the workhouse for himself, his wife and his son. The original title page, drawn by Tressell, carried the subtitle: "Being the story of twelve months in Hell, told by one of the damned, and written down by Robert Tressell."[1]
Grant Richards Ltd. published about two-thirds of the manuscript in April 1914 after Tressell's daughter, Kathleen Noonan, showed her father's work to her employers. The 1914 edition not only omitted material but also moved text around and gave the novel a depressing ending. Tressell's original manuscript was first published in 1955 by Lawrence and Wishart.[1]
An explicitly political work, the novel is widely regarded as a classic of working-class literature.[2] As of 2003, it had sold over one million copies.[3] George Orwell described it as "a book that everyone should read".[4]
- ^ a b Tressell, Robert (1983) [1955]. "Publisher's Foreword". The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. London: Lawrence and Wishart. OCLC 779119068.
- ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (2 May 2009). "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists leads surge in popularity for leftwing books". The Guardian.
- ^ Harker, Dave (2003). Tressell: The Real Story of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. London and New York: Zed Books. p. xvii. ISBN 1-84277-384-4.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Orwellwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).