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Stephen Wright
Her First Appearance
Her First Appearance
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This ebook edition of Richard Harding Davis’ short story “Her First Appearance” is a “teaser” for a uniform ebook edition of Davis’ short stories and novels, based primarily but not exclusively on Scribner’s 12-volume “Crossroads Edition” of Davis’ fiction.
Many of Davis’ early short stories, written for newspapers and magazines, revolve around a cast of Manhattan characters. As in the New York stories of O. Henry, these characters are pulled from all walks of life, from club men to day laborers to thugs to newsmen. Unlike O. Henry’s tales, many of the characters in these stories appear in more than one tale. Like O. Henry, Davis write a mix of comic and dramatic adventures, but Davis leans more toward the serious side than O. Henry.
A number of these magazine stories were subsequently collected in a volume entitled Van Bibber and Others. Van Bibber, the title character, appears in most of them. He is Davis’ club man, living on a fixed but relatively easy income, enjoying the Broadway nightlife, socializing at the racetrack, and enjoying upper class restaurants. Many of his adventures are light-hearted and humorous, but he occasionally finds himself called upon to do something more melodramatic, such as defending an acquaintance from street thugs, or capturing a burglar. And sometimes he is confronted with an even more dramatic ethical dilemma, such as whether or not to let a burglar go.
Davis intended for “Her First Appearance” to be a serious development, eventually arranging for it to be published as a small, elaborately illustrated book. In this story, Van Bibber rises far above his usual adventures. He finds an orphaned girl embarking on a music-hall performing career, and has to decide whether this is right. And then he must find the moral courage and wisdom to intervene, challenging a much older man on a complex emotional battleground. It was the first Davis story I ever read and it has remained one of my personal favorites.
“Her First Appearance” was first published in Harper’s Magazine (December 1891); then in Van Bibber and Others (1892) by Harper & Brothers; then in Episodes in Van Bibber’s Life (1899) by Harper & Brothers; then as Her First Appearance (1901) by Scribners (this being the edition with the elaborate illustrations). It was also collected in Scribner’s 1916 12-volume “Crossroads Edition” of Davis’ fiction. It was a popular story in its day: the actor Robert Hilliard wrote a one-act play version under the title The Littlest Girl (1898); an early Edison film version was released in 1910 and a Braille version was published in 1912.
This edition includes a number of illustrations taken from the sources listed above, including three large drawings by the illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, a close friend of Davis (who famously used Davis’ face as a model for many of his illustrations), and 20 vignette illustrations by E.M. Ashe.
Many of Davis’ early short stories, written for newspapers and magazines, revolve around a cast of Manhattan characters. As in the New York stories of O. Henry, these characters are pulled from all walks of life, from club men to day laborers to thugs to newsmen. Unlike O. Henry’s tales, many of the characters in these stories appear in more than one tale. Like O. Henry, Davis write a mix of comic and dramatic adventures, but Davis leans more toward the serious side than O. Henry.
A number of these magazine stories were subsequently collected in a volume entitled Van Bibber and Others. Van Bibber, the title character, appears in most of them. He is Davis’ club man, living on a fixed but relatively easy income, enjoying the Broadway nightlife, socializing at the racetrack, and enjoying upper class restaurants. Many of his adventures are light-hearted and humorous, but he occasionally finds himself called upon to do something more melodramatic, such as defending an acquaintance from street thugs, or capturing a burglar. And sometimes he is confronted with an even more dramatic ethical dilemma, such as whether or not to let a burglar go.
Davis intended for “Her First Appearance” to be a serious development, eventually arranging for it to be published as a small, elaborately illustrated book. In this story, Van Bibber rises far above his usual adventures. He finds an orphaned girl embarking on a music-hall performing career, and has to decide whether this is right. And then he must find the moral courage and wisdom to intervene, challenging a much older man on a complex emotional battleground. It was the first Davis story I ever read and it has remained one of my personal favorites.
“Her First Appearance” was first published in Harper’s Magazine (December 1891); then in Van Bibber and Others (1892) by Harper & Brothers; then in Episodes in Van Bibber’s Life (1899) by Harper & Brothers; then as Her First Appearance (1901) by Scribners (this being the edition with the elaborate illustrations). It was also collected in Scribner’s 1916 12-volume “Crossroads Edition” of Davis’ fiction. It was a popular story in its day: the actor Robert Hilliard wrote a one-act play version under the title The Littlest Girl (1898); an early Edison film version was released in 1910 and a Braille version was published in 1912.
This edition includes a number of illustrations taken from the sources listed above, including three large drawings by the illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, a close friend of Davis (who famously used Davis’ face as a model for many of his illustrations), and 20 vignette illustrations by E.M. Ashe.
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