TOLD AFTER SUPPER. London: The Leadenhall Press ... Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co., Ltd. New York: Scribner & Welford ..., 1891. Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1] 2-169 [170: blank] [1]-14: ads [15-16: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], 20 full-page and many smaller illustrations by Kenneth M. Skeaping, original pictorial red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black, t.e.g., other edges untrimmed. First edition. Variant binding (priority unknown) with "3/6" printed at lower right hand corner of front panel not canceled by over stamping. "British humorist who satirized the ghostly tale ... TOLD AFTER SUPPER (1891) spoofs a popular Victorian tradition, the Christmas ghost story ... Using as its framing device a drunken storytelling session round the fireside on Christmas Eve, this slim book pokes fun at various conventions of the genre ..." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 237. Of more interest for the typically striking production values of this publisher (this book is printed in dark blue ink on heavy pale blue paper) than for the text. The "96 or 97 illustrations" (to quote the front panel and title page) are quite jolly. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 2-94. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 296. Bleiler (1978), p. 109. Not in Reginald (1979; 1992). NCBEL III 1062. Some soiling to cloth, spine panel darkened, a very good, tight copy. An early copy with small penciled signature dated "Dec 1890" on title page. A fairly nice copy overall. (#138240).
Price: $150.00
"First edition" printed at upper left corner of front cover.