Book description
The adventures of Mr Verdant Green, an Oxford freshman, is a
wonderfully amusing and engaging account of a naïve university
student, thrown into life amongst the hallowed halls of this famous
institution. Upon the publication of its first part in 1853, this work
quickly became something of a cult novel, and the second and third
parts quickly followed. All three parts are published together in this
volume. Widely regarded as a classic of its age, it evokes a sense of
the work of Jerome K Jerome, or the kind of scenarios of which P G
Wodehouse might have written, had the bent of Bertie Wooster been
somewhat more academic. This work is also hugely complimented by the
original illustrations of the author. A contemporary and friend of
George Cruikshank and Leech, Bede's illustrations were widely regarded
as being of the same calibre as both. From 1847 to 1855, his work was
published in 'Punch Magazine', as well as 'The Month', and 'The Town
and Country Miscellany'. John Betjeman paid tribute to Mr Verdant
Green by using its illustrations ini 'An Old University Chest' (1938).
Consistently the most popular of Cuthbert Bede's output, 'Mr Verdant
Green' is a well-loved classic that is truly deserving of the name.
