Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green by Bede, Cuthbert, 1827-1889

Scanned and proofed by R.W. Jones .

Note: With the use of a text-to-speech player and the hard copies of the original editions themselves, this revised electronic edition has been specifically conformed as regards spelling, punctuation and content to the 1853, 1854 and 1857 first editions (save frontispiece and the c1923 edition introductory remarks and page headings, which have been retained here. The first editions' frontispiece have the quotation: ' "A college joke to cure the dumps" -Swift.'). The first editions differ in minor respects not only from the popular c1923 Herbert Jenkins edition from which version 1.0 was prepared but also as between themselves; e.g. "number" in the second sentence of Part I., Chapter One of the first edition becomes "name" in the corresponding part of the 1853 third edition; minor inconsistencies in spelling occur (e.g. "shew" in Part I is spelt "show" later in the work; "Gig-lamps" in Part I becomes "Giglamps" in Parts II and III; etc). Where the first editions contain clear typographical errors which have been corrected in the Herbert Jenkins or other editions, these corrections (very few in number) are indicated in the narrative below by brackets.

THE ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN

BY CUTHBERT BEDE

[NB this e-text contains corrections to the Herbert Jenkins edition made by reference to the consolidated version held by The British Library which combines the first editions of each of the three parts originally published 1853-7. Greek letters in the original are rendered in Roman script and designated: "{ }". Italics are indicated: "~". The illustrations are designated "". The introductory remarks below appear only in the Herbert Jenkins edition, not in the several originals.]

[1 ]

[2 ]

WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT

"Let the poker be heated" were the fearful words which greeted Mr. Verdant Green on his initiation into a spoof Lodge of Freemasonry at Oxford. This was one of the many "rags" of which he was the butt during his days at the university.

In this humorous classic there is told the story of a very raw youth's introduction to university life, of fights between "town and gown," escapes from proctors, wiles of bed-makers, days on the river, or on and off horseback, and nights when "he kept his spirits up by pouring spirits down."

These amusing experiences and diverting mishaps of an Oxford Freshman need no introduction to a public that has already read and laughed over them many times before.

The great feature of the volume is that it contains the whole 188 illustrations originally contributed by the Author.

[3 ] THE ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN

BY

CUTHBERT BEDE

[4 ] A HERBERT JENKINS' BOOK

[5 ] CONTENTS

PART I

CHAP. PAGE

I MR. VERDANT GREEN'S RELATIVES AND ANTECEDENTS ........7

II MR. VERDANT GREEN IS TO BE AN OXFORD FRESHMAN ........14

III MR. VERDANT GREEN LEAVES THE HOME OF HIS ANCESTORS ...21