Book Description

Following in the tradition of Don Quixote, Earl Lavender is the story of two impecunious gentlemen who run away from their conventional lives, style themselves 'Earl Lavender' and 'Lord Brumm', and set out to preach the new creed of Evolution. Their hilarious romp across London leads them to all sorts of strange adventures, such as a wild hansom cab chase, a sojourn among a subterranean society of flagellants, and the discovery of the evolutionary 'Missing Link'. A key Decadent text, Earl Lavender (1895) is also Davidson's response to what he saw as some of the more ridiculous ideas and behaviours of the age. This new edition features a new introduction by Mark Valentine and a reproduction of the original frontispiece by Aubrey Beardsley. John Davidson (1857-1909) was a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist. Although during his lifetime he was compared favourably with Hardy, Housman, and Yeats, and admired by Shaw and T. S. Eliot, Davidson's reputation has languished since his tragic suicide. Long out of print, Earl Lavender is now restored to modern audiences, who will find that Davidson's humour and satire are as fresh today as in 1895.