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First Edition. Hardcover 12mo, in mustard brown illustrated cloth with gilt vignette from the title story blocked to the top front, and lettered titles below in brown, similar on spine. A holly sprig appears on lower area of cover. Copyright 1887 by Charles T. Walker. Printed at The Republican Press, St. Johnsbury, by the publisher, a regional newspaper founded in 1885. CONDITION: Very Good Minus. Cracked front hinge, old paper-repaired rear hinge, some interior soiling. Holding firmly, however, and only mildly age toned. Contains three short, comic stories with 32 lithographed illustrations.** The title story is an uplifting tale of horse-drawn sleigh-racing on a snowy New Year's Day in a small New England town. The fun-loving Deacon Tubman lures the older, reticent and bookish Parson Whitney into the action of the story as an antidote to the latter's malaise brought on by dropping church attendance. Murray makes the most of his avowed love of horses and racing in this great tale of winter fun and fellowship. Cover design and illustrations for this story are by the lithographic ARTIST Thomas Worth (1834- 1917), described as a self-taught artist who worked extensively for Currier and Ives in New York. His comic work here highlights an interest in racing and horses. (Reed. p. 27) The second story" The Old Beggar's Dog" and third story, "The Ball" are illustrated by ARTIST Augustus Burnham Shute, (d. 1910) who appears to have begun his career as an illustrator in the dime novel trade with publisher Edward Stratemeyer, illustrating a number of boys adventure stories and other popular literature. Shute's claim to illustrative fame seems to rest with illustration of the 1896 edition of Moby Dick. "The Old Beggar's Dog" is about an injustice done to a poor tramp whom many care for and offer to help, yet suffers a terrible injustice under the law. In "The Ball," Murray's oft-used woodsman character Trapper John and his sidekick Henry attend a holiday ball enlivened by the latter's fiddle playing exploits. Lastly the story "Who Was He," was illustrated by ARTIST J.H. Snow (1857-1939), about whom little is known, but who painted scenes in the Ipswich area of Cape Ann. A wildfire races along the shores of a northern lake, leading Trapper and Henry on an unexpected mission of rescue. A really good read. REFS: W. Reed, " The Illustrator in America 1860-2000 (New York: The Soc. of Illustrators, 2001). Shute: Online books page. Wright 3909.
Ref: ADIR 9365
$40.00 $34.00