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In: Children & Young Adult Reading·History - Other
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #27157.
The volume is a collection of twelve biographical sketches that present young men from disparate eras and cultures as exemplars of “historic boys.” The editor explains that each portrait, drawn from factual sources and refined for accuracy, highlights how qualities such as courage, self‑reliance, and a sense of duty have long defined masculine virtue. The opening chapter, “Marcus of Rome: The Boy Magistrate,” plunges the reader into an autumnal scene on the Etrurian plain, where three Roman youths engage in the ball game trigon before being summoned to ride toward the capital. Their playful banter, Stoic quotations, and a sudden encounter with shepherds set the tone for a narrative that blends lively dialogue with historical detail, illustrating how a teenage Marcus ascends to the prefecture of Rome while maintaining the modesty and vigor expected of a model boy.
The prose reflects the didactic style of late‑nineteenth‑century juvenile literature, with a formal yet conversational voice that interweaves classical references, moral maxims, and vivid description. The language is ornate but accessible, offering a blend of adventure and instruction that will appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction framed as moral exemplars, particularly young readers, educators, and collectors of period biographies who appreciate a narrative that treats history as a series of character studies rather than a mere chronicle of events.
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From these the author of this volume has selected the careers of a dozen young fellows of different lands and epochs, who, even had they not lived out their "teens," could have rightly claimed a place in the world's annals as Historic Boys. They are such also as show that, from the earliest ages, manliness and self-reliance have ever been the chief groundwork of character, and that in this respect the boy of the nineteenth century in no way differs from his brother of the second or the ninth. To bravely front danger, difficulty, or death, if need be, for principle or right, is as commendable and as heroic in the boy brought up amid the surging and restless life of London to-day, as in the lads who trod the narrow streets of Jerusalem, or Rouen, of Florence, or old Rome centuries ago.
These stories of boy life, in the stirring days of old, have been based upon historic facts and prepared with a due regard to historic and chronologic accuracy. Nine of the twelve stories have already appeared in St. Nicholas magazine, but these have been revised and amplified for their present use, while the remaining three were specially prepared for this volume.
CONTENTS.
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