Original Penny Readings

A Series of Short Sketches

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Pages: 218

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About this book

A working man's comparison between useful earthenware and ornamental china opens this collection of short sketches. George Manville Fenn gives his speaker a conversational voice as he argues for the dignity of labour and challenges the custom of making a new worker pay for his colleagues' drinks. The account then enters a bookbinding workshop, describing the tools, materials and separate tasks that turn printed sheets into finished volumes.

Other scenes widen the collection's range. Sailors play a noisy trick on their officers, while a reflective narrator recalls his brother's wedding and his own confused youthful feelings. Humour, social criticism and family sorrow sit alongside practical observations of everyday work. Readers interested in British working life and the sound of informal storytelling will find both in these sketches, where opinions emerge through remembered incidents and the distinct voices of their tellers.