The Final Word takes the big-picture view of Tarkington’s body of work, and there are indeed themes that are very characteristic of his work. A good many of them (though not all them), naturally, make their first appearance in Gentleman; and several more of them find their way into his early novels only to settle to the bottom of the barrel (or dissipate completely) by the time Tarkington’s craft fully matures.

First published by Doubleday & McClure, October 14, 1899. Priced at $1.50. 5,000 copies in first printing. First state of first edition includes publication date of 1899 on the title page (later printings, 1900), and the ear of corn on the spine points up. Also three states of text in this binding, with earliest on page 291, line 7 reading brainy bumps where later printings read a square brow. See Russo and Sullivan for complete collation of first edition.