The Prodigal Judge

The Prodigal Judge is a novel written by American novelist Vaughan Kester and published in 1911.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Kester wrote the novel while living at Gunston Hall in Virginia. A best-seller, it was the second-best selling fiction book in the United States in 1911.^[7]^[8]^[9] Kester died in July 1911, but not before enjoying the knowledge his book had reached the top of the bestseller lists.^[10]

To promote the book, publisher Bobbs-Merrill Company held a "book review contest", with prizes of $250, $150, and $100 for the first through third best reviews published in the first month of the book's release, judged by a panel consisting of Yale University professor William Lyon Phelps, magazine editor John Sanborn Phillips, and writer William Allen White.^[1] Third place went to H. L. Mencken.^[11]

Adaptations[edit]

It debuted at the Bronx Opera House in December 1913 with George Fawcett playing the judge.^[12]

It was also made into a silent film of the same title directed by Edward José, starring Jean Paige and Macklyn Arbuckle (as the judge), released in 1922.^[13]

^ ^a ^b (5 March 1911). A Book-Review Contest, The New York Times
^ (2 April 1911). "The Prodigal Judge": Mr. Vaughn Kester's Much-Heralded Novel Has a Flavor of All Its Own, The New York Times
^ (12 March 1911). A Tale of Early Days, Salt Lake Tribune, p. 21, col. 1.
^ (13 March 1911). Among the Books (review), Richmond Times-Dispatch, p. 7 col. 4.
^ (11 March 1911). Swift Action Marks 'The Prodigal Judge' (review), New York Herald, p. 16, col. 3.
^ Rich, Amy C. (April 1911). Books of the Day (review), Twentieth Century Magazine, pp. 94-95
^ Hackett, Alice Payne. Seventy Years of Best Sellers 1895-1965, p. 107 (1967) (the lists for 1895-1912 in this volume are derived from the lists published in The Bookman (New York))
^ The "Best Sellers of 1911", in The American library annual 1911-12, pp. 121-24 (1912)
^ (1 April 1911). Quotes about book, Publishers Weekly (a multi-page ad with quotes from booksellers about the book)
^ In Memoriam, The Bookman (New York) (October 1911), pp. 129-30
^ (20 August 2011). A Book Review Contest, Indianapolis Star
^ (9 December 1913). "The Prodigal Judge": George Fawcett Appears in a Dramatization of Vaughn Kester's Novel, The New York Times
^ (11 February 1922). The Prodigal Judge (Review), Exhibitors Trade Review, Vol. 11, No., 11, p. 787