J. ARCHIBALD McKACKNEY (COLLECTOR OF WHISKERS): BEING CERTAIN EPISODES TAKEN FROM THE DIARY AND NOTES OF THAT ESTIMABLE GENTLEMAN-STUDENT AND NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME SET FORTH. Edited by [i.e. written by] Ralph D. Paine .. by Paine, Ralph D[elahaye] - 1907

New York: The Outing Publishing Company, 1907. Octavo, pp. [i-vi] vii-x [xi-xii] xiii-xiv [1-2] 3-180 [181-182: blank] [note: free endpapers excised by the binder], original pictorial gray boards, front panel stamped in red, white and black, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. "Humorous stories in the (largely American) sub-genre of wacky inventor/scientist escapades -- related obviously to the Munchausean tall-tale. McKackney, the protagonist of these seven loosely linked stories, is a collector of human whiskers, attempting to document via portraits all possible varieties of human facial hair (he's up to 187). His most recent discovery is the ability of whiskers to act like an Aeolian harp, combing the wind into musical shapes (with the help of some machinery of his invention). In 'The Pursuit of the Hirsute Orchestra,' McKackney sets out to assemble a living orchestra of these 'harps.' One story, 'The Episode of the Titian Beard,' is criminous. Several other tales are set at sea (Paine went on to become a noted author of naval stories and histories)." - Robert Eldridge. Smith, American Fiction, 1901-1925 P-34. Owner's signature dated September 1912 on front free endpaper. Boards rubbed at spine ends, corner tips worn, a few pages roughly opened, a very good copy. (#115672)