Gay's Standard Encyclopedia and Self Educator by Loveridge, R. C., & D. R. Wright, et al - 1882

New York: Gay Brothers and Co. Publisher, 1882. Hardcover. Good. xx, [21]-636 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 27 cm. 4to. Hardcover. Publisher's original green cloth over heavy beveled boards, lavishly blind stamped and stamped in gilt. Copiously illustrated with over 225 illustrations on both steel and wood, with a particularly good looking hand colored wood engraving. Book Condition: Good only; both hinges cracked, ffep+ frontis + title pages all loose and laid in, spine ends raggedy, cloth split for 2" of upper joint. Binding a bit shaken, some foxing to plates. Containing virtually all knowledge of the known world. Topic headings include etiquette & conduct of life, bookkeeping: single and double entry, penmanship and pen flourishing, composition & correspondence, home life and happiness, parlor magic, present condition of the nations of the world, the art of carving made easy, how to learn telegraphy, medical and physical education, commercial law and legal forms, constitutional history, Canadian law, the architecture of the home, the language of flowers, and the art of cookery, with "one hundred infallible miscellaneous receipts" including this one for Scotch Whiskey : "Twenty gallons of proof whiskey, 30 drops creosote(!) dissolved in 1 pint alcohol, 1 ounce acetic acid, 1/2 pound loaf sugar. Let it stand 48 hours." To us, these 19th century all-in-one reference books leave no doubt as to the fundamental bad-ass-ed-ness of our ancestors.