The Prodigal Judge

The Prodigal Judge

Author	Vaughan Kester
Illustrator	M. Leone Bracker
Language	English
Publisher	Bobbs-Merrill Company
Publication date	March 11, 1911 [1]
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover) (448 p.)

The Prodigal Judge is a novel written by American novelist Vaughan Kester and published in 1911. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Kester wrote the novel while living at Gunston Hall in Virginia. A best-seller, it was the second-best selling fiction book in the United States in 1911. ^{[7] [8] [9]} Kester died in July 1911, but not before enjoying the knowledge his book had reached the top of the bestseller lists. ^[10]

To promote the book, publisher Bobbs-Merrill Company held a "book review contest", with prizes of $250, $150, and $100 for the first through third best reviews published in the first month of the book's release, judged by a panel consisting of Yale University professor William Lyon Phelps, magazine editor John Sanborn Phillips, and writer William Allen White. ^[1] Third place went to H. L. Mencken. ^[11]

Adaptations

Macklyn Arbuckle in 1922 film version.

It debuted at the Bronx Opera House in December 1913 with George Fawcett playing the judge. ^[12]

It was also made into a silent film of the same title directed by Edward José, starring Jean Paige and Macklyn Arbuckle (as the judge), released in 1922. ^[13]

References

1. (5 March 1911). A Book-Review Contest, The New York Times
2. (2 April 1911). "The Prodigal Judge": Mr. Vaughn Kester's Much-Heralded Novel Has a Flavor of All Its Own, The New York Times
3. (12 March 1911). A Tale of Early Days, Salt Lake Tribune, p. 21, col. 1.
4. (13 March 1911). Among the Books (review), Richmond Times-Dispatch , p. 7 col. 4.
5. (11 March 1911). Swift Action Marks 'The Prodigal Judge' (review), New York Herald , p. 16, col. 3.
6. Rich, Amy C. (April 1911). Books of the Day (review), Twentieth Century Magazine, pp. 94-95
7. Hackett, Alice Payne. Seventy Years of Best Sellers 1895-1965, p. 107 (1967) (the lists for 1895-1912 in this volume are derived from the lists published in The Bookman (New York) )
8. The "Best Sellers of 1911", in The American library annual 1911-12, pp. 121-24 (1912)
9. (1 April 1911). Quotes about book, Publishers Weekly (a multi-page ad with quotes from booksellers about the book)
10. In Memoriam, The Bookman (New York) (October 1911), pp. 129-30
11. (20 August 2011). A Book Review Contest, Indianapolis Star
12. (9 December 1913). "The Prodigal Judge": George Fawcett Appears in a Dramatization of Vaughn Kester's Novel, The New York Times
13. (11 February 1922). The Prodigal Judge (Review), Exhibitors Trade Review, Vol. 11, No., 11, p. 787

External links

• The Prodigal Judge full text at Project Gutenberg
• The Prodigal Judge, full scan via Google Books