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The Book of Snobs
Paperback
Publisher: Bibliotech Press
Published: Feb 13 2025
Pages: 168
Weight: 0.47
Height: 0.42 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The Book of Snobs is a collection of satirical works by William Makepeace Thackeray published in book form in 1848, the same year as his more famous Vanity Fair. The pieces first appeared in fifty-three weekly pieces from February 28, 1846 to February 27, 1847, as The Snobs of England, by one of themselves, in the satirical magazine Punch. The pieces, which were immensely popular and thrust Thackeray into widespread public view, were rigorously revised before their collection in book form and omitted the numbers which dealt with then current political issues (numbers 17-23).
The Book of Snobs expressed Thackeray's conscious and unconscious views on the snobbery prevalent in Victorian society. Thackeray initially adopted several pen names to remain anonymous, including the pseudonyms: Théophole Wagstaff, Charles Yelowplush, Major George Fitz-Boodle, Michael Angelo Titmarsh, and Ikey Solomons, Miss Tickletoby, Manager of the Performance, Arthur Pendennis, Timothy Titcomb, and Solomon Pacifico. Thackeray only admitted authorship of the work in the second edition of Memoirs of Barry Lyndon (1856). The book took a critical view of the various groups of England and abroad, particularly France, and highlighted the human tendency to give importance to trivial matters or to admire things of low value. Thackeray described these traits succinctly in two phrases: give importance to unimportant things or meanly admire mean things.
Upon publication, the book received a range of reviews, from mixed to generally negative. While the book received a defence from Anthony Trollope, other prolific writers of the time were critical of its often harsh, satirical and iconoclastic commentary on English and French societies. Nevertheless, its underlying message communicated a humanitarian and Christian-centric view.
The book has been translated into French several times, with notable versions by Georges Guiffrey in c.1857, by Maurice Constantic-Weyer, and by Raymond Las Vergnas in 1945.
The term 'snob' was popularised by the publication of the Book of Snobs. This compilation was highly influential in clarifying the current connotations of the word and, in the words of academic and scholar Frédéric Rouvillois, in establishing the baptism of snobbery.
In the Dictionnaire du snobisme by Philippe Jullian, the term 'snob' is referenced: the very sound of the word 'snob', which begins as a whistle and ends as a soap bubble, destined it for a great career in the realm of contempt and frivolity. This description is similar to Thackeray's coinage of the term, but he adds a moral connotation. (wikipedia.org)
13 different editions
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The Early Writings of William Makepeace Thackeray
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The History Of Pendennis His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy
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The History of Henry Esmond, Esq: Everyman's Library, Ed. By Ernest Rhys. Fiction
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The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World; Volume III
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The Four Georges [George I - George Iv, Kings of Great Britain] Sketches of Manners, Morals, Court, and Town Life
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The Adventures of Don Quixote Abridged From the Original Edition by W.M. Thackeray
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The Memoirs Of Barry Lyndon, Esq: And A Little Dinner At Timmin's
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The Four Georges: The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century
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Notes on a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo: in large print
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Notes on a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo: in large print
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The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., a Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Queen Anne: in large print
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The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., a Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Queen Anne: in large print
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The History of Samuel Titmarsh and the Great Hoggarty Diamond: in large print
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The History of Samuel Titmarsh and the Great Hoggarty Diamond: in large print
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The Works Of William Makepeace Thackeray: The History Of Pendennis
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The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., Written by Himself. (By W.M. Thackeray)
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The History of Pendennis his Fortunes and Misfortunes his Friends and his Greatest Enemy
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The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World: Showing who robbed him, who helped him, and who passed him by
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William Makepeace Thackeray - Four Georges: "The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The English Humourists: "A good laugh is sunshine in the house."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - Henry Esmond: "Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The Newcomes: "Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair: "It is best to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The Fitz-Boodle Papers: "There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the p
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The History of Samuel Titmarsh and the Great Hogg: "Next to excellence is the appreciation of it."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The Fatal Boots: "Never lose a chance of saying a kind word."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The Second Funeral of Napoleon: "If a man's character is to be abused, say what you will, there's nobody like a relative
Thackeray, William Makepeace
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William Makepeace Thackeray - The Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan: I would rather make my name then inherit it. ?
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The Book of Snobs: "It is better to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love a
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - Men's Wives: "...the greatest tyrants over women are women."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The Virginians: "it is the ordinary lot of people to have no friends if they themselves care for nobody"
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - Barry Lyndon: "The two most engaging powers of a good author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - George Cruikshank: "If a man has committed wrong in life, I don't know any moralist more anxious to point his errors out
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The History of Pendennis: Volume 1: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paperback
William Makepeace Thackeray - The History of Pendennis: Volume 2: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy
Thackeray, William Makepeace
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William Makepeace Thackeray - Catherine: "Money has only a different value in the eyes of each."
Thackeray, William Makepeace
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