The Prodigal Judge

The Prodigal Judge is a novel written by American novelist Vaughan Kester and published in 1911.[2][3][4][5][6]

Kester wrote the novel while living at Gunston Hall in Virginia. A best-seller, it was the second-best selling fiction book in the United States in 1911.[7][8][9] Kester died in July 1911, but not before enjoying the knowledge his book had reached the top of the bestseller lists.[10]

To promote the book, publisher Bobbs-Merrill Company held a "book review contest", with prizes of $250, $150, and $100 for the first through third best reviews published in the first month of the book's release, judged by a panel consisting of Yale University professor William Lyon Phelps, magazine editor John Sanborn Phillips, and writer William Allen White.[1] Third place went to H. L. Mencken.[11]

Adaptations

Macklyn Arbuckle in 1922 film version.

It debuted at the Bronx Opera House in December 1913 with George Fawcett playing the judge.[12]

It was also made into a silent film directed by Edward José, starring Jean Paige and Macklyn Arbuckle (as the judge), released in 1922.[13]

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(5 March 1911). A Book-Review Contest, The New York Times
(2 April 1911). "The Prodigal Judge": Mr. Vaughn Kester's Much-Heralded Novel Has a Flavor of All Its Own, The New York Times
(12 March 1911). A Tale of Early Days, Salt Lake Tribune, p. 21, col. 1.
(13 March 1911). Among the Books (review), Richmond Times-Dispatch, p. 7 col. 4.
(11 March 1911). Swift Action Marks 'The Prodigal Judge' (review), New York Herald, p. 16, col. 3.
Rich, Amy C. (April 1911). Books of the Day (review), Twentieth Century Magazine, pp. 94-95
Hackett, Alice Payne. Seventy Years of Best Sellers 1895-1965, p. 107 (1967) (the lists for 1895-1912 in this volume are derived from the lists published in The Bookman (New York))
The "Best Sellers of 1911", in The American library annual 1911-12, pp. 121-24 (1912)
(1 April 1911). Quotes about book, Publishers Weekly (a multi-page ad with quotes from booksellers about the book)
In Memoriam, The Bookman (New York) (October 1911), pp. 129-30
(20 August 2011). A Book Review Contest, Indianapolis Star
(9 December 1913). "The Prodigal Judge": George Fawcett Appears in a Dramatization of Vaughn Kester's Novel, The New York Times
(11 February 1922). The Prodigal Judge (Review), Exhibitors Trade Review, Vol. 11, No., 11, p. 787

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