Other editions of book Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York With The Boot- Blacks

Horatio Alger's eye-opening tale of a boy's poverty and aspiration in late 19th century New York is presented here. When it was first published in 1868, Ragged Dick was praised both for its respect to the gritty reality of poverty on the streets of 19th century New York, and for its qualities of characterisation which resonated with readers, particularly young boys. The author Horatio Alger was all too aware of his literary limits, but resolved to publish books which would inspire his readers to lead morally upstanding and prosperous lives underpinned by honest deeds. We join the titular character, a bootblack aged fourteen years, as he resolves to leave his life of poverty and degradation. Starting with giving up drinking and smoking, our young protagonist keeps his vow to never steal, which impresses some of his gentleman peers who are moved to help his cause. Ragged Dick begins to help at church, and uses his pay to move into his own apartment.

Look at Ragged Dick through the lenses of 1860s New York and Alger's own life there. Ragged Dick is a fourteen-year-old bootblack – he smokes, drinks occasionally, and sleeps on the streets – but he is anxious "to turn over a new leaf, and try to grow up "'spectable". He won't steal under any circumstances, and many gentlemen who are impressed with this virtue (and his determination to succeed) offer their aid. Mr. Greyson, for example, invites him to church and Mr. Whitney gives him five dollars for performing a service. Dick uses the money to open a bank account and to rent his first apartment. He fattens his bank account by practicing frugality and is tutored by his roommate Fosdick in the three R's. When Dick rescues a drowning child, the grateful father rewards him with a new suit and a job in his mercantile firm. With this final event, Richard is "cut off from the old vagabond life which he hoped never to resume", and henceforth will call himself Richard Hunter, Esq.

Horatio Alger's eye-opening tale of a boy's poverty and aspiration in late 19th century New York is presented here in hardcover. When it was first published in 1868, Ragged Dick was praised both for its respect to the gritty reality of poverty on the streets of 19th century New York, and for its qualities of characterisation which resonated with readers, particularly young boys. The author Horatio Alger was all too aware of his literary limits, but resolved to publish books which would inspire his readers to lead morally upstanding and prosperous lives underpinned by honest deeds. We join the titular character, a bootblack aged fourteen years, as he resolves to leave his life of poverty and degradation. Starting with giving up drinking and smoking, our young protagonist keeps his vow to never steal, which impresses some of his gentleman peers who are moved to help his cause. Ragged Dick begins to help at church, and uses his pay to move into his own apartment.

Ragged Dick is a fourteen-year-old bootblack – he smokes, drinks occasionally, and sleeps on the streets – but he is anxious "to turn over a new leaf, and try to grow up "'spectable". He won't steal under any circumstances, and many gentlemen who are impressed with this virtue (and his determination to succeed) offer their aid. Mr. Greyson, for example, invites him to church and Mr. Whitney gives him five dollars for performing a service. Dick uses the money to open a bank account and to rent his first apartment. He fattens his bank account by practicing frugality and is tutored by his roommate Fosdick in the three R's. When Dick rescues a drowning child, the grateful father rewards him with a new suit and a job in his mercantile firm. With this final event, Richard is "cut off from the old vagabond life which he hoped never to resume", and henceforth will call himself Richard Hunter, Esq.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The author hopes that- while the volumes in this series may prove interesting stories- they may also have the effect of enlisting the sympathies of his readers in behalf of the unfortunate children whose life is described- and of leading them to co-operate with the praiseworthy efforts now making by the Children’s Aid Society and other organizations to ameliorate their condition.' (From original Preface)

The hero of "Ragged Dick" is a veritable "diamond in the rough" - as innately virtuous as he is streetwise and cocky. Immediately popular with young readers, the novel also appeals to parents, who responded to its colorful espousal of the Protestant ethic. "Struggling Upward," published nearly thirty years later, followed the same time-tested formulas, and despite critical indifference it, too, had mass appeal. Though the days when Horatio Alger was one of the most widely read authors in America have long since passed, his message--that by dint of hard work, decent morals, good manners and a hefty serving of luck, any American boy can rise from rags to riches—was once read and believed by every significant man of business, politics, literature and academia in America in the early decades of this century. It is impossible to understand these men and the America that they forged without understanding the one author who was most likely a formative influence on them. Except for a couple of decades of despair brought on by the Great Depression, it is, has been, and seems sure to remain, the uniquely American idea that anyone can succeed. Though Alger was not the originator of these beliefs, the many copies of his books certainly contributed to the entrepreneurial spirit of America. There is something refreshing about Alger's straightforward, unmannered writing style. The mere absence of all of the modern stylistic devices that so often make reading modern novels a chore, makes reading the books a pleasure. Then there is the vicarious thrill of reading about a good boy making good. And, beneath the outer layers of poverty, Alger's heroes are enormously appealing. There is a reason that the term "Horatio Alger story" lives on in our lexicon. The concept touches something deep within our psyche, confirming something that we desperately want to believe about individuals and about the type of world and society that we live in. Let the critics ridicule Alger’s stories, but when America stops believing in the power and the truth of the Alger myth, we will cease to be a great nation.

Excerpt from Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York With the Boot-BlacksSeveral characters in the story are sketched from life. The necessary information has been gathered mainly from personal Observation and conversations with the boys themselves. The author is indebted also to the excellent Superintendent of the Newsboys' Lodging House, in Fulton Street, for some facts Of which he has been able to make use. Some anachronisms may be noted. Wherever they occur, they have been admitted.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.