Maiden Stakes

Maiden Stakes is a 1928 collection of short stories by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), first published in The Windsor Magazine.

Maiden Stakes
1944 dustjacket
AuthorDornford Yates
GenreNovel
PublisherWard Lock & Co[1]
Publication date
1928[2]
Media typePrint
Pages319[1]

Plot

The book consists of mostly stand-alone short stories, plus one ("Letters Patent") which features the author's 'Berry' characters and references Yates' book Perishable Goods.

Background

The stories were written for The Windsor Magazine. Most appeared individually before publication in book form, but the last four, including the "Letters Patent" story, appeared later.[3]

Chapters
Chapter Title Windsor Date Volume Issue Pages Illustrator
I Childish Things July 1925 LXII 366 121-133 Albert Bailey
II St. Jeames August 1927 LXVI 392 265-277 Lindsay Cable
III Aesop's Fable October 1927 LXVII 394 513-524 Lindsay Cable
IV Vanity Of Vanities January 1928 LXVIII 397 170-180 Norah Schlegel
V Force Majeure March 1928 LXVIII 399 386-398 Henry Coller
VI Bricks Without Straw December 1927 LXVIII 396 21-31 Lindsay Cable
VII 'Service' April 1929 LXIX 412 593-608 P B Hickling
VIII In Evidence February 1929 LXIX 410 289-302 J Dewar Mills
IX Maiden Stakes March 1929 LXIX 411 451-465 R Allen Shuffrey
X Letters Patent January 1929 LXIX 409 157-169 Lindsay Cable

Childish Things and Aesop's Fable appeared in The Saturday Evening Post editions of 27/06/1925 and 10/09/1927 respectively. St Jeames appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in August 1927.

Critical reception

The book was written at a difficult time for Mercer, when relations between him and his wife Bettine were getting steadily worse.[4] Nevertheless, the original dedication read "To the American girl who did me the lasting honour to become my wife."

gollark: I am not an idiot. You, however, are an idiot.
gollark: I mean, cars are very scary, several-ton metal boxes hurtling down roads at several tens of metres per second.
gollark: I am still an ageless entity from beyond space and time, Ly¶icly.
gollark: I don't actually have a driving license because of never actually learning to drive cars at all.
gollark: It isn't proof. I could obviously be lying to you.

References
  1. "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  2. Smithers 1982, p. 231.
  3. Smithers 1982, p. 144.
  4. Smithers 1982, p. 145.

Bibliography
  • Smithers, AJ (1982). Dornford Yates. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0 340 27547 2.
  • Usborne, Richard (1974). Clubland Heroes. London: Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 0 214 20012 4.
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