Book excerpt: The English comic novelist R. S. Surtees wrote sporting and satirical masterpieces, shining a light on the foibles and obsessions of early Victorian England. He created Mr. Jorrocks, one of the great comic characters of English literature, a Cockney grocer obsessed with fox hunting, whose various misadventures would go on to influence Dickens’ ‘The Pickwick Papers’. For the first time in publishing history, this comprehensive eBook presents Surtees’ complete fictional works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Surtees’ life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * All 8 novels, with individual contents tables * Features rare novels appearing for the first time in digital publishing, including ‘Plain or Ringlets’ and ‘Hillingdon Hall’ * The unfinished novel ‘Young Tom Hall’s Heart-aches and Horses’ — first time in digital print * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original Victorian texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * Famous works are fully illustrated with John Leech’s stunning colour illustrations for the original monthly parts * Surtees’ rare non-fiction, including the seminal ‘The Horseman's Manual’ – available in no other collection * A bonus biography * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Novels Handley Cross Hillingdon Hall Hawbuck Grange Mr Sponge’s Sporting Tour Ask Mamma Plain or Ringlets Mr Facey Romford’s Hounds Young Tom Hall’s Heart-aches and Horses The Shorter Fiction Jorrocks’ Jaunts and Jollities Mr. Jorrocks The Non-Fiction The Horseman’s Manual Hints to Railway Travellers Nimrod Fox-Hunting Fox-Hunting in Past and Present Times Thoughts on Fortune-Hunting The Biography Brief Biography: R. S. Surtees by Thomas Seccombe Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles or to purchase this eBook as a Parts Edition of individual eBooks