Edwin Hodder, "Thrown on the World; or, The Scrapes and 'Scapes of Ray and Bertie. With Eight Illustrations by Gordon Browne" (London, Hodder and Stoughton, "Seventh Thousand", 1893). Hardcover (blue cloth boards with printed pictorial decoration to front and spine, gilt title to spine), 402pp plus title and contents pages, illustrations and list of publications, measuring approximately 12.9 x 18.8 x 4.1cm (5.1 x 7.4 x 1.6in). Ray and Bertie, two young Anglo-Russian brothers living in Moscow, are "thrown on the world" when their parents are arrested and banished for a crime which they did not commit. They are adopted by a wealthy London tea merchant who, believing in the educational value of foreign travel, sends them abroad, in the company of a tutor, to complete their education - and thus they are "thrown on the world" a second time. Their adventures in Europe - which include encounters with an avalanche in the Alps and brigands in Greece - lead ultimately to their being reunited with their parents, whose innocence is subsequently re-established. The front endpaper bears an undated prize presentation label, inscribed to "W. Turley", from the "Pleasant Sunday Afternoon for Men Only, held in the Tontine St. Congregational Church, Folkestone". No dustjacket; there is some marking and discoloration to the cover, with age wear including considerable scratching to the printing together with wear to the edges, corners and spine ends; there is considerable discoloration and browning together with foxing and other marks to the inside covers and endpapers, with indentations to the top of the front endpaper where an old pencil price and code number have been rubbed out; the pages are discoloured with tanning around the edges, various marks, some creases and tears, and edge and corner wear; there is some weakness to the binding at the front of the volume, and one of the illustrations is partly loose.
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