SURTEES, Robert Smith; LEECH, John (illus).

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

"Ask Mamma;" or, The Richest Commoner in England. First edition, bound from the monthly parts in the publisher's cloth, with the characteristic stab-holes occasionally visible in the margins and traces of the original red wrappers visible at gutter before frontispiece. This work was first issued in parts between March 1857 and April 1858, and subsequently in book form in 1858. Surtees's (1805-64) novels revolve around British field sports. His "sharp, authentic descriptions of the hunting field have retained their popularity among fox-hunters" and "his mordant observations on men, women, and manners; his entertaining array of eccentrics, rakes, and rogues; his skill in the construction of lively dialogue (a matter over which he took great pains); his happy genius for unforgettable and quotable phrases… have won him successive generations of devoted followers" (ODNB). Surtees was introduced to Leech by Thackeray; for Leech, this led to "perhaps his most important partnership" and his "caricatured but more modern approach [was] the perfect foil to Surtees's writing" (ODNB).

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