Hermsprong: or, Man as He is Not

By Robert Bage

Book Overview

A radical outsider, a fearless heroine and a society tested

Volume III of a three-volume edition

The concluding volume of Robert Bage's Hermsprong; or, Man as He Is Not brings its moral and emotional tensions to their fullest expression. As misunderstandings sharpen and authority hardens, the novel asks whether reason, equality and sincerity can prevail in a world shaped by pride and prejudice.

Hermsprong's steadfast integrity is tested, while Maria Fluart's wit and courage prove central to the novel's final reckoning. Bage's satire gives way to resolution, yet his questions about power, justice and human conduct remain strikingly modern.

First published in 1796, Hermsprong stands as one of the boldest works of late eighteenth-century fiction.

This new three-volume P-Wave Classics edition presents the complete novel in its original format, with introduction and editorial notes printed in Volume I.

With notes and an introduction by L.A. Davenport.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1916937381
• ISBN13: 9781916937383
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: P-Wave Classics
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 4.4" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

The original Pride and Prejudice

Writing about a generation before Jane Austen, Blage, now known primarily for nothing at all, was an extremely popular and well-thought-of 18th-century writer (he was admiringly written about by Sir Walter Scott--damning praise there, nowadays, but grow up). This is Blage's masterpiece: his last, great, satirical work skewering the mores of British snobbishness (in the person of Lord Grondale)through the caricature of an American "barbarian." The phrase "pride and prejudice" is used throughout in the manner applied by Austen (yes, this is a bucolic, country novel of manners--focusing more on character than plot; oh, with everyone married happily ever after by the end). A treat.