Maiden Stakes

Maiden Stakes
	1944 dustjacket
Author	Dornford Yates
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Ward Lock & Co
Publication date	1928
Media type	Print
Pages	319

Maiden Stakes is a 1928 collection of short stories by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), first published in The Windsor Magazine.

Plot[]

The book consists of mostly stand-alone short stories, plus one ("Letters Patent") which features the author's 'Berry' characters and references Yates' book Perishable Goods.

Background[]

The stories were written for The Windsor Magazine. Most appeared individually before publication in book form, but the last four, including the "Letters Patent" story, appeared later.^[3]

Chapters[]


Chapter	Title	Windsor Date	Volume	Issue	Pages	Illustrator
I	Childish Things	July 1925	LXII	366	121-133	Albert Bailey
II	St. Jeames	August 1927	LXVI	392	265-277	Lindsay Cable
III	Aesop's Fable	October 1927	LXVII	394	513-524	Lindsay Cable
IV	Vanity Of Vanities	January 1928	LXVIII	397	170-180	Norah Schlegel
V	Force Majeure	March 1928	LXVIII	399	386-398	Henry Coller
VI	Bricks Without Straw	December 1927	LXVIII	396	21-31	Lindsay Cable
VII	'Service'	April 1929	LXIX	412	593-608	P B Hickling
VIII	In Evidence	February 1929	LXIX	410	289-302	J Dewar Mills
IX	Maiden Stakes	March 1929	LXIX	411	451-465	R Allen Shuffrey
X	Letters Patent	January 1929	LXIX	409	157-169	Lindsay Cable

"Childish Things" and "Aesop's Fable" appeared in The Saturday Evening Post editions of 27/06/1925 and 10/09/1927 respectively. "St Jeames" appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in August 1927.

Critical reception[]

The book was written at a difficult time for Mercer, when relations between him and his wife Bettine were getting steadily worse.^[4] Nevertheless, the original dedication read "To the American girl who did me the lasting honour to become my wife."

References[]

^ ^a ^b "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
^ Smithers 1982, p. 231.
^ Smithers 1982, p. 144.
^ Smithers 1982, p. 145.

Bibliography[]

Smithers, AJ (1982). Dornford Yates. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0 340 27547 2.

[BLcat-1] "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.

[FOOTNOTESmithers1982231-2] Smithers 1982, p. 231.

[FOOTNOTESmithers1982144-3] Smithers 1982, p. 144.

[FOOTNOTESmithers1982145-4] Smithers 1982, p. 145.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t Books by Dornford Yates
'Berry' books	The Brother of Daphne (1914) The Courts of Idleness (1920) Berry and Co. (1921) Jonah and Co. (1922) Adèle and Co. (1931) And Berry Came Too (1936) The House That Berry Built (1945) The Berry Scene (1947) As Berry and I Were Saying (1952) B-Berry and I Look Back (1958)
'Chandos' books	Blind Corner (1927) Perishable Goods (1928) Blood Royal (1929) Fire Below (1930) She Fell Among Thieves (1935) An Eye for a Tooth (1943) Red in the Morning (1946) Cost Price (1949)
Other volumes	Anthony Lyveden (1921) Valerie French (1923) And Five Were Foolish (1924) As Other Men Are (1925) The Stolen March (1926) Maiden Stakes (1928) Summer Fruit (1929, US) Safe Custody (1932) Storm Music (1934) She Painted Her Face (1937) This Publican (1938) Gale Warning (1939) Shoal Water (1940) Period Stuff (1942) Lower than Vermin (1950) Ne'er-Do-Well (1954) Wife Apparent (1956)