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 .

Chicago IL: The Lewis Publishing Co.. Very Good-; Rubbed at all edges, corners, spine ends. Wear and chipping to spine tails, wear to spine heads, Vol I lower third of front joint split but the rest is sound. Creases to rear endpaper. Vol II lower third of front and back joints split, rest of front joint starting, but all held quite firmly by heavy hinges which are perfect. Front endpaper has an old repair to a hole, with textured paper taped on both sides of the leaf. 1910. Hardcover. Two volumes of the popular history of Indianapolis from foundation through 1910. Author was the Secretary of the Indiana Historical Society and delivers great detail about the movers and shakers of the times, the status of business and industry, and what we now call the public history of the city and what it now Marion County. Tissue-covered plates of the major personalities. Three-quarter leather with heavy, pebbled texture. Boards in leather with finer, grained texture. Text block has gilt head edge, marbled fore and tail edges. Title in gilt to spine. Vol I contains the Table of contents immediately followed by the Index. Numbered consecutively; Vol I ends at page 641, Vol II ends at page 1257. With the ownership blind stamp of Jack McKim Vorhies, noted numismatic author of books about obsolete bank notes. Both volumes very clean: externally overall about VG-, internally overall closer to NF. Tremendously detailed compared to other Indianapolis histories. Significant and scarce.; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall .

London: Allan Wingate. Fine+ in Very Good dust jacket; Slightest soil to cream-colored DJ, which has rubbed corners and chip (faint burn?) to lower edge of front. 1958. First Edition; First Impression. Hardcover. A collection of the worst, laughable, nauseating, hideously-bad poetry from 19th century English authors: covers what I would call the golden age of bad poetry. Compiled and edited by Christopher Adams, with his humorous notes appended to many poems. Has no table of contents or index, but poems are grouped by topic: Tender Passion, Perils of the Sea, Demon Drink, War's Alarms, Corpses of Consequence, etc. Each section begins will a small, relevant line drawing by John R. Matthews. In clean, tight, fine condition and in a VG DJ. ; Drawings; 16mo 6" - 7" tall; 128 pages .

Karachi: Peermahomed Ebrahim Trust. Near Fine with no dust jacket; Some spots (publisher's defects) to the title page. Possibly a slight ding to head edge of back cover. 1975. No edition stated. Hardcover. This is a tasfir (or tasfeer) in English: a verse-by-verse commentary and interpretation of the Quran, this one by a highly-regarded Pakistani translator of the Quran. Believed to be written from the Shia perspective. This is not the commonly-available "modern English" translation with commentary by the same author, but an older, different book with an extensive, sequential commentary on the verses, often in archaic English. Thick 12mo, 1084 pages, ribbon marker. Boards have an unusual covering of ivory-colored "tape" strips laid down horizontally, gilt printing over that. No DJ, believed as-issued. Clean and tight copy. About Near Fine in relation to its fresh from the publisher condition, but a bit difficult to tell since the production quality of the book was somewhat crude. Quite scarce.; 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 1084 pages .

New York NY: Algonquin Books. Near Fine with no dust jacket; Tiny spot of wear to corner at head of spine. Corners have slightest thumbing. 1998. Uncorrected Proof. Paperback. Advance Uncorrected Proof. Twenty-four essays about the this novelist's approach to writing, her writing history, and opinions about the pleasure and grief of writing. Quite personal and very instructive for the writer. Near Fine. ; Trade PB; 8vo; 300 pages .

New York: Sheldon & Company. Very Good; Spine ends quite bumped with a bit of wear at each. All corners rubbed. Covers have light soil and faint, small spotting. Faint, but pervasive foxing to pastedowns and endpapers. Tissue guard to frontis has faintly browned the frontis and title page. 1869. First Edition. Hardcover. The utmost dense, gothic novel from this prolific author. The author's dedication is to "L," generally believed to be Louisa May Alcott, and recounts time spent together and possibly collaboration in the writing of the book. "Come, now, and help me launch another venture, the little craft called 'Cipher,' whose construction you have watched with such ready sympathy and interest, and to whose freight you have so largely contributed." Alcott's involvement has not been determined, though it is known that she had an active friendship with Austin. Wood engraved plates by Sol Eytinge, prolific illustrator and caricaturist. In the publisher's brown pebbled cloth on boards. Gilt title and decoration to spine. Scarce. Overall at least a VG copy.; Wood engraving; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; 175 pages .