[Gutenberg 20992] • Tom, Dick and Harry

Talbot Baines Reed (1852-1893) was an English writer who specialised in boys' school stories, the most famous of which were The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's (1881) and The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch (1883). Born in Hackney, London, Reed was the third son of Sir Charles Reed, who served as Member of Parliament for the borough. Reed's family was also closely involved with the Religious Tract Society, which founded the Boy's Own Paper, a periodical which published all of his stories. Reed more than any other late 19th century writer was responsible for the ensuing popularity of school stories in British children's fiction. Although all of Reed's school stories were first serialised in the Boy's Own Paper, some of them were published in book form, both during and after the author's life. Works include: My Friend Smith (1882), The Willoughby Captains (1883), Reginald Cruden (1885), Follow My Leader (1885), A Dog With a Bad Name (1886), The Master of the Shell (1887), Sir Ludar (1889), Roger Ingleton, Minor (1889), Tom, Dick and Harry (1892), Kilgorman (1894), Parkhurst Boys (1905) and Boycotted (1917).