I made it. I received the cherished scans from NYPL library and now hold a photo-copy of the valuable manuscript, the contents of which are a gold mine of new fascinating information about Hook. The overall plot of the story is similar to the one that appears in the 1927 speech, but there are countless curious and important details elaborating on James’s character and boyhood as well as on his last visit to Eton. In my opinion, the initial version did a far better job in developing Hook’s bio and stirring readers’ emotions. It’s such a pity that it eventually got shortened and simplified and never saw print. Here’s an extensive list of significant details which don’t appear in the speech:
- After James had taken out some books from the university library, he obliterated the arms of the college from one of them with a knife and inserted “James Hook, his book’’.
- He left Balliol hurriedly, but the narrator hasn’t been able to determine the reason due to “the page in the books of the college which must have recorded the happening having been torn out”.
- “Hook was captain of the cricket XI of his house, and this entailed his writing, in a tome kept for the purpose, and preserved through the ages, a chronicle of his captaincy and a salutation to his successes. Such a manuscript in his own writing would now of course be of high value, but I have carefully examined the volume and Hook’s year is missing. On the other hand, I found him referred to twice by his predecessor, who says of one match: «J. Hook’s blob is what might happen to anyone, but he must learn to restrain himself when given out l.b.w.», and in another page, the boyish tribute: «this was the game in which J.Hook did the dirty.»” It seems that James was prone to unfair methods since youth.
- James edited the Eton Chronicle, but the official proof has gone.
- Hook’s contemporaries “recall a lad, not over cleanly, inclined to snivel and to twist the arms of delicate juniors untruthful and a glutton”.
- He prayed for victory in games, which was considered ungentlemanly by his opponents.
- When many Eton pupils sent the narrator their own photographs, he had a thought that “James might have come to a more reputable if less striking end had he been entered for some other school, a view that is shared by his aunt, from whom I got the dainty little picture of her nephew that accompanies this artice”. If only this story had been published as planned, we could’ve taken a look at a picture of young Hook... Honestly, it’s painful to realize how much potential was wasted.
- James’s aunt lived in an ivy-clad cottage near Gomshall and has occupied the position of schoolmistress for some time.
- She conducted the narrator “to the latticed, lavender-smelling chamber which had been James’s bedroom during his Eton holidays”. The room had the colors Hook had won at school nailed upon the walls, and the following description is almost identical to the 1927 one.
- The next paragraph is one of the most interesting and captivating passages of the story. The aunt showed some of James’s school letters. “To know oneself is notoriously difficult and perhaps the youthful James failed to do so. One gathers from these little outpourings that the reasons he got no prizes were (1) Mi’ tutor's deplorable spite against him, (2) that he was devoting so much futile endeavor to correcting the morals of his fellows. He brings one terrible indictment against the Нead. Several of the boys smoked (we are speaking of far back days), and James, in an uplifting of the spirit, to purge the house, felt it his duty to сarry the names to the Неad, who first swiped them, and then, telling them who had peached, concluded with the extraordinary words "Don't kick him in my presence." Some hours later James returned to the Head, pale and limping, to say finely, "I forgive you, sir," and, on being asked why, replied "Because I feel, sir, that in the ordinary course of nature you cannot be long spared to us,” whereupon the unaccountable man, instead of being touched, again swiped”. I’m a bit confused as to what James was trying to say and why the Headmaster flogged him, so I would be grateful if someone explained it to me.
- Hook’s aunt increased his sock money, and he gave the treats he had bought to “skinnier youths”.
- He never had any friends.
- At some point in time James held a clerkship in the city and attempted to fight robbers, albeit unsuccessfully (it’s very ironic, considering the fact that he later became a notorious criminal himself).
- Mr.Jasper (it’s “Jasper”, not “Jasparin” in this version) photographed James as soon as he saw him sitting on the Pop Wall, and the reproduction was supposed to accompany the story (yet another potential illustration we were deprived of).
- Mr.Jasper cried after witnessing James denounce his proud connection with Eton College and slink away. I’ve already mentioned it before, but the 1925 version is much more touching and emotional than its 1927 counterpart.
- Hook lingered in front of his tutor’s house and was gazing at his own room for a long time.
- The pirate destroyed all accessible evidence of his affiliation with Eton, not just the records in the Eton Society books. This is implied but never explicitly stated in the speech.
- James’s last greeting on the Fourth of June was the following: “Gratissumus Almae Matris filius magistro inform alumnis omnibus avete hoc IVto Iunii die ex Moluccis Iacobus Hook Floreat Etona”.
- His precious stones were lost in a “wretched completion among the crew of his successor about who could throw farthest”
- Among other possessions he kept a spoon with the arms of Balliol College, Oxford, on it, which probably means Oxford was at least somewhat important to him
- The phrase “O mine enemy” was recurrent in his logbook, and he had “an idee fixe that this person [Peter] and his associates could at will turn themselves into motes If dust dancing in the sun”.
- Hook wrote a letter to his aunt asking her to find out whether the Governing Body would accept his legacy, and, if, not, to keep it herself.
- “There never was any woman in his life, indeed it may be said with confidence that Jas Hook was universally loathed by both sexes”.
As you can see, nearly all of these nuances and additional passages are of importance and fill in some blank slates in the story of James’s life. They also liven up the narrative and add depth to James’s character, not to mention give food for thought. It’s worth noting that Barrie’s conversation with the Provost doesn’t appear at any point, consequently, there are no reflections on the dichotomy between good and great, and the Eton ghost is not present. Besides, Hook’s fear of water isn’t mentioned, and Barrie doesn’t touch on the topic of Hook’s academic success.
I believe I covered the 1925 version exhaustively, and I’ve already sent the scans to jmbarrie1860@gmail.com, although I’m not sure if the message went through, so please let me know if it didn’t.
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