SOLDIERS' STORIES AND SAILORS' YARNS. A BOOK OF MESS-TABLE DROLLERY AND REMINISCENCE PICKED UP ASHORE AND AFLOAT, BY OFFICERS NAVAL, MILITARY, AND MEDICAL. Second Edition. With Illustrations by Harry Furniss, D. H. Friston, and Percy Macquoid. London: John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E. C., n.d. [1888]. Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii [1] 2-404 [405-408: ads] + 36-page undated publisher's catalogue at rear, four inserted plates, original pictorial brown cloth, front and spine panels stamped in red and gold, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on rear panel, all edges untrimmed, yellow coated endpapers. Second printing. SOLDIERS' STORIES AND SAILORS' YARNS, a collection of short fiction, "first published in 1884, collects 24 stories narrated by British military, naval, and medical officers set in a variety of exotic locations, including Africa, India, and South America. The stories are characterized by standard adventure story elements, including duels, shipwrecks, and various crimes, but three stories contain fantastic elements. Set in India, 'The Ghost in the Dak Bungalow' is supposedly a ghoul, the spirit of a notorious dead bandit chief, but a skeptical officer's efforts reveal the perpetrator of the haunting is actually a hyena. In 'A Spectre in a Mess-Room,' the ghost of a military veterinarian's wife who died during childbirth tries to warn a doctor that her grief-stricken husband is dying of a drug overdose. 'Telegraphy Extraordinary' qualifies as science fiction and involves a doctor who develops a means of sending messages across vast distances using snails and galvanic batteries. Aside from some unfortunate racial stereotypes typical of the period, the tales in SOLDIERS' STORIES AND SAILORS' YARNS are well-told and contain significant detail about their various settings, the local cultures, and aspects of military life" (Boyd White). A very good copy. (#169895).
Price: $150.00
"SECOND EDITION" on title page.