Hook, Theodore Edward 1788-1841 creator text utu 2026 monographic en 1 online resource : multiple file formats "Jack Brag, vol. 2 (of 3)" by Theodore Edward Hook is a novel written in the early 19th century. A comic social satire, it lampoons pretension, vanity, and the games of courtship, following the self-satisfied social climber Jack Brag as he intrudes upon a more polished circle that includes the widow Mrs. Dallington, her sister Blanche Englefield, and their suitors Sir Charles Lydiard and Frank Rushton. Expect drawing-room maneuvers, wounded pride, and exposure of imposture, shifting from London society to the bustle of Dover. The opening of the volume finds Jack in a farcical bind after receiving apparent acceptances from both Mrs. Dallington and Blanche; he boasts to Rushton and consults Sir Charles, even flaunting the women’s notes. Sir Charles and Rushton compare letters, deduce a joint hoax meant to punish Jack’s importunity, and stage their own counter-ruse at the ladies’ house; Blanche’s distressed confession of love, overheard by Rushton, brings swift reconciliation, and Sir Charles openly renews his suit to the widow. Jack then arrives, is coolly drawn out, and, when his duplicity is laid bare, is laughed out of the room and into a wet, miserable night. At the start of the next chapter he flees to Dover to attach himself to Lord Tom, blundering through fresh embarrassments—most notably the public return of his nightcap and comb from a cheap inn—and at a crowded Gunnersbury dinner he overboasts about sporting feats, unwittingly slighting a legendary leap performed by the Earl of Dullingham himself, an awkward moment cut short by news of a ship driven ashore in the gale. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Release date is 2026-05-19 MWS, Finkler and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Originally published: London: Richard Bentley, 1837 English fiction -- 19th century PR London: Richard Bentley, 1837 https://archive.org/details/jackbragh02hook https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78709 https://archive.org/details/jackbragh02hook https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78709 UtSlPG 260607 20260610134827.0 78709