Publisher's Synopsis
Smedley (1818-64) was an English novelist. He was born with deformed feet, a disability which impaired his mobility and prevented him from attending regular school so he was privately educated by his uncle, the Reverend Edward Smedley. His cousin, the novelist and poet Menella Bute Smedley, later kept house for him and acted as his secretary. Smedley's first literary venture, Scenes from the Life of a Private Pupil, was published anonymously in Sharpe's London Magazine from 1846-48 and proved so successful that it was expanded and published in book form in 1850 under the title Frank Fairlegh. He went on to write several further novels, often humourous and at times racily told, most of which were originally illustrated by either "Phiz" (best known for illustrating Dickens' works) or George Cruikshank. This novel, first published in book form in 1854 (an earlier version having previously been serialised), is his best-known work.
