Physical description

The Adventures of Philip
Author: William Makepeace Thackeray
Publisher: Henry Frowde Oxford University Press
Date: 1908

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

The label on the spine cover with typed text PAT FIC THA
Paste down front end paper has a sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute and Free Library.
Front loose end paper has a sticker from Corangamite Regional Library Service.

Summary

The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World was originally serialised in The Cornhill Magazine from 1861 to 1863 and is Thackeray's final completed novel.
The story is heavily semi autobiographical, reflecting Thackeray's own youth, early struggles, and financial losses. The narrative follows Philip Firmin, a passionate, blustering, but fundamentally good hearted young man. He stands to inherit a comfortable fortune from his late mother.
However, Philip is completely betrayed by his own father, the aristocratic and deceitful Dr Brandon Firmin. The doctor secretly squanders, swindles, and speculates away his son's entire inheritance, leaving Philip financially ruined.
Forced to make his own way in the world, Philip moves to Paris to work as a struggling journalist. He falls in love and marries Charlotte Baynes, despite having almost no income. The novel becomes an intense critique of Victorian societal expectations, exploring the crushing anxiety of genteel poverty, the snobbery of wealthy relatives, and Philip's struggle to maintain his pride and integrity while desperately trying to support his growing family.