Robert Tressell

Julie Cairnie (University of Guelph)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

Born 17 Apr 1870
Died 3 Feb 1911
Activity 1906-1910

Places

Born in Ireland, Republic of (Eire)
Active in England; Ireland, Republic of (Eire); South Africa

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Other

Revolutionary, Activist

Resources

Tressell's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Most writers deserving of a substantial profile in

The Literary Encyclopedia

have a significant oeuvre. Robert Tressell wrote only one novel,

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

(1914; 1918; 1955), and it was published and celebrated posthumously. His bereaved daughter, Kathleen, sold it to the publisher, Grant Richards, for a “mess of pottage”: £25. This was a meagre sum given the book’s phenomenal success: the 1955 edition has never been out of print. Aptly, the book points out the irony of the Poor’s generosity: “ragged trousered philanthropists” give away their labour and its products for a “mess of pottage”. The text’s solution is to “fill the House of Commons with Revolutionary Socialists” (520). Although he did not live long enough even to enjoy his book’s…

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3243 words

Citation: Cairnie, Julie. "Robert Tressell". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 August 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4449, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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