Chapter 1


Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph

D.J. Ramsbottom [pseudonym for WMT], “A Statement of the Fax Relative to the Late Murder.” The Snob. Cambridge: W.H. Smith, June 4, 1829. *EC85.T3255.LSn51 (B).

[Thackeray], “Timbuctoo.” The Snob. Cambridge: 1829. *EC85.T3255.LSn51 (B).

The Snob and The Gownsman.(Cambridge: W.H. Smith, 1829-1830).

Thackeray was a frequent contributor and perhaps an editor of this humorous weekly, produced by fellow Cambridge men. The Snob ran for eleven numbers from April 9 to June 18, 1829, during Thackeray’s first term at Cambridge. “Snob” was a derogatory term which then denoted a member of the town of Cambridge, rather than a student of the university. (Amusingly, the periodical changed its name to The Gownsman the following term.) In its fourth number, The Snob published Thackeray’s poem “Timbuctoo,” which he had initially submitted for the chancellor’s gold medal. Thackeray’s more comic take on the assigned subject perhaps explains why the prize ultimately was awarded to one of his classmates, Alfred Tennyson.

*EC85.T3255.LSn51 (B). Gift of William B. Osgood Field, 1942. *EC85.T3255.LSn51 (C). Source unknown .