ffred's
nearly-forgotten treasures"Ah, Jack, if good people, as a class, were one half as
intelligent and energetic as rogues, what a world this would
be!"
As I noted in The Second Son, Thomas Bailey Aldrich was was a widely respected American author, and editor of the Atlantic Monthly from 1881 to 1890. Although a number of his works are available at Project Gutenberg, Prudence Palfrey is a notable omission. While Aldrich's literary style is known for its realism, dry humor, and social commentary, this romantic novel introduces elements of action, adventure, and mystery. And like any decent mystery, there is a twist, but not without clues.
The text is from this scan of the 1874 edition; the condition is quite good, and transcription was fairly rapid. While most of the original spelling was preserved, contractions such as "did n't" and "that 's" were joined. Otherwise, only obvious typographical errors were corrected, and a few inconsistent spellings were standardized
So here it is: the master HTML version, the home-brew Kindle version, and the actual Amazon publication.
September 3, 2024