MR. HAWKINS' HUMOROUS ADVENTURES. New York: Dodge Publishing Company, [1904]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] 5-323 [324: blank], six inserted plates with illustrations by Bernhard Gutmann, original maroon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and white. First edition. Twelve short stories of slapstick humor satirizing the scientist/inventor that originally appeared in ARGOSY magazine. Each story describes the dire consequences of the demonstration of a new Hawkins invention; the almost perpetual motor, the auto-aero-moblie, Hawkinsite (a powerful explosive), and other devices. Hawkins is, according to Griggs (the inventor's friend and neighbor and the narrator of these tales), "part inventor and part idiot. Hawkins has money, which generally mitigates idiocy; but in his case it also allows free rein to his inventive genius, and that is a bad thing." Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-77 and (2004) II-422. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 812. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 310. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy Volume II, p. 48. Bleiler (1978), p. 77. Reginald 05607. Smith, American Fiction, 1901-1925 F-365. Some loss of perishable white enamel rules on front panel, a very good copy. (#130291).

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