St John's College W.3 (part)
William J. Locke, ‘The Incomparable Paragot’. English, before 1907
William John Locke, of St John’s College (1863-1930): ‘The Incomparable Paragot’, n.d., but before 1907. Apparently the germ of Locke’s novel The Beloved Vagabond (London: John Lane, 1907), which helped establish his reputation as a novelist. See ODNB. Parts of this MS are printed word for word in Chapters 9, 12, 13, 16 and 21 of the novel.
41 pp. 235x180mm. Presented by H. P. W. Gatty, Librarian of the College, Nov. 1947. According to Gatty’s annotation of the title page, he acquired the MS from Dobell of Tunbridge Wells earlier in the same year. The title page also gives Locke’s London address at the time of writing: 78 Ridgmount Gardens, WC.
MS, with many cancellations and corrections, written on recto only with generous LH margin. Ruled paper, previously secured through holes at top and bottom left.