''Eric, or, Little by Little'' is a book by
Frederic W. Farrar
Frederic William Farrar (Bombay, 7 August 1831 – Canterbury, 22 March 1903) was a cleric of the Church of England (Anglican), schoolteacher and author. He was a pallbearer at the funeral of Charles Darwin in 1882. He was a member of the Cambr ...
, first edition 1858. It was published by
Adam & Charles Black
A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels.
History
The firm was founded in 180 ...
, Edinburgh and London. The book deals with the descent into moral turpitude of a boy at a
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...
or English
public school of that era.
The author's preface to the fourth edition reads:
Summary
Eric Williams is a son of a British
colonial official and his wife stationed in India. As was common at the time of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
, Eric is sent to Britain to be educated at a boarding school—in this case Roslyn School, where he encounters the good and bad aspects of the traditional
public school.
He slowly gets beaten down by being punished erroneously for wrongdoings, getting bullied and such things as drinking, smoking and cheating. The end is tragic for Eric, as he loses everything.
Background and reception
Along with
Talbot Baines Reed
Talbot Baines Reed (3 April 1852 – 28 November 1893) was an English writer of young adult fiction, boys' fiction who established a genre of school story, school stories that endured into the mid-20th century. Among his best-known work is ' ...
's ''
The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's'' and
Thomas Hughes' ''
Tom Brown's Schooldays'', this book was one of three most popular boys' books in mid-Victorian Britain. The school is a thinly disguised cross between Farrar's own school
King William's College
King William's College (nicknamed KWC or King Bill's; gv, Colleish Ree Illiam) is an independent school for pupils aged 3 to 18, located near Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the International Baccalaureate and Headmasters' and ...
in the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = " O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europ ...
, and
Marlborough College, at which he was the master.
The book is credited with helping to increase the popularity of the first name "
Eric" in English-speaking countries—although not with
Eric Arthur Blair
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitari ...
(the writer and journalist
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...
) who disliked his given name because of its association with Farrar's book.
In later years, it fell out of favour, in part because of its religious earnestness. For example, in
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
's ''
Stalky & Co.'', published late in 1899, the protagonist Beetle and his friends frequently made fun of "Eric", e.g.
E. Nesbit included it in a list of didactic children's books which were "impossible to read."
Notes
References
* Carpenter, Humphrey and Mari Prichard. ''Oxford Companion to Children's Literature''. Oxford University Press, 1997.
* Zipes, Jack (ed) et al. ''The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature: The Traditions in English.'' W. W. Norton, 2005.
* Zipes, Jack (ed.). ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Volumes 1-4''. Oxford University Press, 2006.
* Watson, Victor, ''The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English''. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
* Demmers, Patricia (ed). ''From Instruction to Delight: An Anthology of Children's Literature to 1850'', Oxford University Press, 2003
Oxford University Press .
* St. John, Judith. ''The Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books, 1566-1910, A Catalogue'', Toronto Public Library.
External links
Project Gutenberg editionPDF editionat
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
British Library: Children's LiteratureBritish Library: Integrated Catalogue
Copac: Academic & National Library Catalogueat the University of Manchester.
Library of Congress Online CatalogNational Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eric, Or, Little By Little
British children's novels
19th-century British children's literature
1858 British novels
A & C Black books
Novels set in boarding schools
Victorian novels
1850s children's books
English novels