London: Punch. Very Good+ with no dust jacket; Some scratching and marring to the covers. Corners generally sharp, but with some wear especially to the tail rear. Very faint foxing to the verso of the plates, does not show on the recto. Faintest mustiness. 1845. 1st Thus. Hardcover. The Table Book was a compendium of satirical articles and short essays, previously issued in 12 monthly issues on the "1st of the month" from January to December 1845. Filled with fairly-biting social and political satire of the day by authors John Oxenford, Horace Mayhew, Gilbert A. A' Beckett (the Editor's brother), Paul Prendergast, Shirley Brooks, Mark Lemon, Michael Angelo Titmarsh (William Makepeace Thackeray), Angus B. Reach, and "_Ferguson." Contains the first appearance of William Makepeace Thackeray's "A Legend of the Rhine" written in several parts under the pseudonym Michael Angelo Titmarsh.Illustrated with plates and cuts by George Cruikshank per his satirical take on these same social and political issues. Cruikshank was the ideal illustrator for such thing, obviously believing that anyone or anything worth satirizing needed a caricature instead of a mere rendering. Many of the included articles include references to the included illustrations of Cruikshank: this was the literary effort of authors in knowing collaboration with their illustrator.Between the authors and Cruikshak, smoking and foppish dress are given a beating, and German featherbeds and German fleas are declared to be constant companions. An affinity is declared for the "fine old stage assassin," preferring him to the later "smooth" villain, a sonnet to cold weather and a related personal selfishness is offered, the curious logic of ladies is explored, and we are presented with the poem "On a Block of Ice Brought From America Without Melting and Placed in the Window of a Shop in the Strand." An enthusiast of anatomy examines a talking skeleton in a graveyard and we are given a satirical lesson in how, when, and where books should be read, the need for specialized "almanacks" is considered including Grant's Almanack for Literary Dustmen and Herr Singenschmall's Almanack for German Bullfinches.The Illustrator George Cruikshank was a book illustrator and caricaturist who preyed on the social and political foibles of Victorian England. A co-creator of the concept and image of the English archetype John Bull, he was arguably integral to the writing of Dickens' Oliver Twist, contributing not only illustrations for one of the editions, but also claiming credit for much of the book's story line. Cruikshank was author of The Editor Gilbert Abbot A'Beckett was on the staff of Punch in its first days and a contributing writer after that. A prolific, perhaps manic, playwrite, he managed to fit a journalistic career around the writing of 50 to 60 plays. Author of three "Victorian comedies" including his best-known Comic History of Rome.List of 12 steel engraved plates, list of 109 wood engraved cuts. Illustrated title page, unique to the book and not appearing in the periodicals. Short advertisements at the rear. Later binding in full red leather with gilt rules at the borders, original brown leather spine with raised bands laid down. Spine labels (title and editor) are later, and possibly more recent than binding. All edges of text block gilt. Printing by Bradbury and Evans, Whitefriars, London. No DJ, as originally issued. Still somewhat tight, pages clean and bright. 1st thus of this offprint of Punch. Better than VG and approaches VG+.; Engravings; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; 284 pages .