Peter (novel) explained

Peter: A Novel Of Which He Is Not The Hero is a novel published in 1908 by Francis Hopkinson Smith, which was the sixth best selling book in the United States in 1908, and ninth best-selling book of 1909.^[3] It sold in excess of 100,000 copies.^[4]

Plot

The book is set in New York City, but the New York of a few decades prior to 1908 when the book was released. Peter Grayson is an aging banker of the old school; an upstanding and cultured gentleman, and not prone to engage in speculation. Peter also influences the younger generation around him, including a young man who comes to New York to work in the financial world.

Reception

As Smith was a well-known and popular American author of his day, the book was widely reviewed, with mixed to positive reviews. For example, H.L. Mencken wrote "It is a delightful world that Mr. Smith inhabits--a world made up of loyalty, true love and simple faith. ... there is not much plot in the book, but what there is is not without its grip."^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]}

Released in late August 1908 with illustrations by Arthur I. Keller, the book soon made it onto best seller lists, becoming the sixth-best selling book of 1908 and ninth-best of 1909. It sold particularly well in December 1908, based on the fact that it went through four printings that month alone.^[4] The novel was never adapted to the stage or film.

External links

• • 1912 edition via Google Books.

Notes and References

1. (29 August 1908). Announcement of New York Books: Novels by J.B. Connolly and Hopkinson Smith Among Those Out To-Day -- Herbert Trench's Poems, The New York Times
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=GBIDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA364 Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part 1, New series Vol. 5 (July - Dec 2008)
3. [Alice Payne Hackett|Hackett, Alice Payne]
4. (9 January 2009). Advertisement, New York Tribune (stating over 100,000 copies sold with the following editions: 1 st (Aug. 29, 1908); 2nd (Sept. 24); 3rd (Nov. 9); 4th (Dec. 3); 5th (Dec. 11); 6th (Dec. 17); 7th (Dec 23); 8th (Jan 5, 1909))
5. [H. L. Mencken|Mencken, Henry L.]
6. [George Middleton (playwright)|Middleton, George]
7. https://archive.org/details/peteranovelwhic02smitgoog A Guide to the New Books
8. Doty, Madeline. Some Fiction, Pearson's Magazine (US), p. 563 (Vol. XX, No. 5, November 1908)
9. Brigham, Johnson. The Banker In Literature, pp. 235-38 (1910)
10. (19 September 1908). By Hopkinson Smith (book review), The New York Times
11. (29 August 1908). Recent Fiction by H. Hopkinson Smith and Others, New York Tribune
12. https://books.google.com/books?id=8bs4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA580 Recent Fiction and the Critics