To
Joseph W. Allen,
at whose suggestion this story
was undertaken,
it is
inscribed with friendly regard.
“Ragged Dick” was contributed as a serial story to the pages of theSchoolmate, a well-known juvenile magazine, during the year 1867. While incourse of publication, it was received with so many evidences of favor that ithas been rewritten and considerably enlarged, and is now presented to thepublic as the first volume of a series intended to illustrate the life andexperiences of the friendless and vagrant children who are now numbered bythousands in New York and other cities.
Several characters in the story are sketched from life. The necessaryinformation has been gathered mainly from persona