Talbot Baines Reed

Talbot Baines Reed (April 3, 1852 – November 28, 1893) son of Charles Reed, and grandson of Andrew Reed, was an English writer who specialised in boys' school stories, the most famous of which were The Fifth Form at St. Dominic’s and "The Adventures of a Three Guinea Watch".

Born in Hackney, London, Talbot was the third son of Sir Charles Reed, who served as Member of Parliament for the borough.

Talbot Reed's family was also closely involved with the Religious Tract Society, which founded the "Boy's Own Paper" - a periodical which published all of his stories. Talbot Reed more than any other late 19th century writer was responsible for the ensuing popularity of school stories in British children's fiction. Amongst his non-fiction was his contribution to the history of English printing, "A History of the Old English Letter Foundries", published by Faber.

A fine memorial to Talbot Baines Reed stands at Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington. It is a tall, imposing celtic cross carved from local granite in Kilkenny, Ireland, with detailed scrollwork.

Bibliography

Although all of Reed's school stories were first serialised in the "Boy's Own Paper", some of them were published in book form, both during and after the author's life, e.g:

*The Fifth Form at St. Dominic’s (1881)
*Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch (1883)
*The Willoughby Captains (1887)
*English Letter Foundries (1887)
*The Master of the Shell (1887)
*Sir Ludar (1889)
*My Friend Smith (1889)
*Roger Ingleton Minor (1891)
*The Cock House at Fellsgarth (1893)
*Kilgornan: Ireland in 1798 (1894)
*Tom, Dick and Harry (1894)
*A Dog with a Bad Name (1894)
*The Boys of Templeton (1899)
*Follow My Leader (1899)
*Parkhurst Sketches (1899)
*Reginald Cruden (1913)

References

* Carpenter, H. and M. Prichard. 1984. "The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature". Oxford University Press: Oxford and New York.

External links

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