TALES OF HUMOUR: A SCRAP-BOOK OF CHOICES STORIES OF WIT, INTERESTING FABLES, AND AUTHENTIC ANECDOTES

Philadelphia: J. & J.L. Gihon, [circa 1848 - 1850s]. 16mo. 288 pages, plus frontispiece. Several woodcuts, some full-page, printed with the text. 12-pages publisher's ads. Original embossed brick red cloth with title and decorations in gilt on the spine. 16 x 10.5 cm. Ex-Sondley Reference Library with light internal markings: tasteful bookplate on front pastedown, embossed stamp on frontispiece, title, and one other leaf, and ink number stamp on verso of title and in the margin of one other page. Else fair only, but uncommon in any condition. Spine ends chipped and frayed, corners worn, spine faded to tan. Sporadic but sometimes heavy foxing and staining, affecting some text and images with no loss of legibility; two short marginal tears; lacking rear free endpapers. One of two editions found, both undated Philadelphia imprints, priority unknown. The date of the earliest possible publication is based on two works on the Mexican War advertised in the publisher's catalog at the rear which were first published in 1848. Records in OCLC suggest that Gihon was active as a publisher until about 1860. The other edition, issued by Leary and Getz, appears to have been printed from the same setting as the present edition with only the publisher's name and address on the title page altered. The ads are also the same with only the publisher's name and address changed. The book is a collection of brief humorous stories, illustrated with several dramatic woodcuts. Most of the anecdotes are set in British or Continental locations, although there are a few pieces alluding to the Americas, including two on American Indians (pp. 181-185 and 210-214), one on a "Negro Beggar" of Jamaica (pp. 106-108), and another on the Newfoundland dog (p. 128). Scarce. OCLC locates only three copies of the present edition (Harvard, Penn, and Allen County, Indiana) and it is not listed in NUC. Of the Leary and Getz edition, OCLC finds only two copies (N.Y. Public and Illinois), and NUC adds only the Harvard copy.