The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Spoil of Office, by Hamlin Garland

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Title: A Spoil of Office
A Story of the Modern West

Author: Hamlin Garland

Release Date: August 4, 2008 [EBook #26189]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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A SPOIL OF OFFICE

Hamlin Garland's Books.

Uniform edition. Each, 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

Wayside Courtships.
Jason Edwards.
A Spoil of Office.
A Member of the Third House.

A Little Norsk. 16mo. 50 cents.

D. APPLETON & COMPANY, NEW YORK.

A SPOIL OF OFFICE

A STORY OF THE MODERN WEST

BY

HAMLIN GARLAND

AUTHOR OF JASON EDWARDS,
A MEMBER OF THE THIRD HOUSE,
A LITTLE NORSK, ETC.

NEW AND REVISED EDITION

NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
M DCCC XCVII

Copyright, 1897, by
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

Copyright, 1892, by Hamlin Garland

TO

WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS,

THE FOREMOST HISTORIAN OF OUR COMMON LIVES
AND THE MOST VITAL FIGURE IN OUR LITERATURE,
I DEDICATE THIS STUDY
OF THE GREAT MIDDLE WEST,
ITS CONTEMPORARY LIFE AND LANDSCAPE.

PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION.

In this story of "A Spoil of Office" it was my intention to treat life
as it would present itself to a young Western man of humble condition,
who should set himself to the task of winning a political success. I
have therefore maintained with considerable care the point of view of
Bradley Talcott. Such a design loses in variety but gains, it seems to
me, in unity and continuity of movement.

It has one marked disadvantage, however: it is apt to be misunderstood
by the reader who may take the characters, events, and theories, judged
by the central figure, to be the author's estimate. To illustrate: Ida
Wilbur is presented as she appeared to Bradley Talcott, and not as the
reader would see her, and not as the author would have delineated her
had she been taken as the central figure of the book. This explanatory
word seemed needed; being