Blackie's Books for Young People, Catalogue - 1899

About this book

The volume is a 1899 catalogue from Blackie & Son that lists the firm’s current offerings for young readers, chiefly the prolific historical adventure stories of G. A. Henty. The opening pages are a succession of brief notices, each pairing a title with a contemporary review, an illustration credit, and a price in six‑shilling paperbacks. The entries range from “The Tiger of Mysore” and “When London Burned” to “The Lion of St. Mark” and “Condemned as a Nihilist,” each accompanied by praise from periodicals such as the Spectator, the Athenæum and the Saturday Review. The catalogue’s structure is unmistakably commercial: it showcases Henty’s reputation as a leading writer for boys, emphasizes the educational value of his historically accurate plots, and highlights the quality of the accompanying artwork and maps.

The tone is that of a late‑Victorian trade list, brisk and factual, yet infused with the era’s confidence in moral instruction through literature. Its language mirrors the period’s reverence for heroic virtues, courage, discretion, and patriotism, presented in a style that balances factual detail with spirited narrative. Readers who enjoy a snapshot of turn‑of‑the‑century publishing, collectors interested in the marketing of boys’ adventure fiction, or anyone curious about how Henty’s works were promoted to school‑age audiences will find this catalogue both informative and evocative of its time.