![(#137516) THE MERRY TALES OF THE THREE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM. Edited by [i.e. written by] the Author of John Bull in America. James Kirke Paulding.](https://lwcurrey.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/137516.jpg?width=768&height=1000&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1682006295)
THE MERRY TALES OF THE THREE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM. Edited by [i.e. written by] the Author of John Bull in America. New York: G. and C. Carvill, 108 Broadway. Sleight & Tucker, Printers, Jamaica, 1826. 12mo, pp. [1-3] 4-324, flyleaves at front and rear, original gray paper boards with tan linen shelf back, printed paper label affixed to spine panel, all edges untrimmed. First edition. Anonymously published collection of short fiction. Includes "The Man Machine; or, the Pupil of 'Circumstances,'" pp. [21]-142, a very early American anti-utopian tale that satirizes industrialist-philosopher Robert Owen's theories of the perfectibility of man. The two other linked stories are "The Perfection of Reason," a satire on the legal profession, and "The Perfection of Science," a satire on phrenology. Joel Nydahl, "Early Fictional Futures: Utopia, 1798-1864," Kenneth M. Roemer (ed.), America as Utopia (1981), pp. 267-8; 290. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, pp. 39-40. BAL 15702. Wright (I) 2015. Edges of boards rubbed, scattered foxing in the text, a very good copy. (#137516).
Price: $850.00
No statement of printing.