Buy this book on-line

WILDER, MARSHALL P[inckney]: : THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET. [Author SIGNED copy.]

US.NEW YORK.FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY,1905.

ISBN No ISBN.

US,12mo HB,no dw/dj - as issued? VG.No owner inscrptn but author's handwritten, calligraphic,dark blue ink inscrptn+ dedication to front free endpaper: 'To my friend Mrs (J or Y[?]) P. O'Connor Merrily Yours Marshall P. Wilder'. Bright,crisp,sharp-cornered,publisher's original dark blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt decoration, lettering and b/w+colour paper onlays to front,and with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip,rear board undecorated and plain,and clean plain white endpapers at front,rear endpapers with inevitable off-set shadowing from pastedown border edges transferred to rear free endpaper.Upper board+spine decorations by Charles Graham; paper onlays include a small circular,b/w smiling portrait photograph of author within the centre of a gilt decoration of the sun with its spreading rays across the cover,the rectangular colour paper onlay depicts a pictorial,scenic view of New York's Madison Square Park.Whilst the book is with negligible shelf-wear,bumping or creasing to edges and corners with no nicks,tears,splits or fraying present it has residual bleached,discoloured water-stain(?) to bottom 70cms of spine/ backstrip,removing publisher's name at foot of same,and to front board partially removing corner of border decoration but without affecting any lettering,rear board also marginally discoloured to its bottom, right-hand corner.Top+fore-edges though lightly toned are still fairly bright and clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine - text body with very minimal foxing/spotting and no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation.US, 12mo HB,no dw/dj - as issued(?),author SIGNED,1st edn,7-369pp [paginated] includes author's preface,contents list/ table,an alphabetical list of people encountered within the anecdotes,profuse b/w line illustrations by Bill Bart Haley - some as chapter headpieces,others within body of the text,plus [unpaginated] half- title,a contemporary monochrome,author portrait photograph with facsimile inscrptn+signature frontispiece with its tissue guard taken by Marceau of New York, title page with copyright details and stated Published,June,1905 on its verso, and a dedication with blank verso. Author's 2nd book. Described hard,but honestly and fairly, and probably in too much detail,but still an exceptional and rare SIGNED example, notwithstanding described detractions. A compilation,collection of humorous anecdotes and recollections of various notables (including Edwin Booth, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Richard Harding Davis, Loie Fuller, Sir Henry Irving, Joseph Jefferson, Bill Nye, Opie Read, Mark Twain, Artemus Ward,and others) by the noted Broadway vaudeville actor, comedian and raconteur; it also includes a few autobiographical sketches. Marshall Pinckney Wilder [Sept,1859 - Jan,1915] Born Geneva,New York,USA. Wilder's family moved to Rochester where he became popular for his talent as a storyteller.It was also at Rochester that Wilder received his early inspiration for a later vocation after attending a public reading at Corinthian Hall.Moving to New York City around the age of twenty,he found employment as a file boy with a commercial firm.Wilder started augmenting his income by giving humorous monologues for 50 cents a performance.These early performances held in the drawing rooms of wealthy New York patrons gained him the notoriety to join the ranks of full-time entertainers.In 1883 Wilder travelled to London,where he became a favorite of the Royal Family.Whilst still the Prince of Wales,Edward VII became an admirer of Wilder and over the years would attend nearly twenty of his performances.Wilder's career eventually branched into vaudeville and in 1904 embarked on a round the world tour. Forgotten now,Wilder was heralded in his lifetime and didn't let his dwarfism and kyphosis - an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine,as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions - to be an excuse for cheap entertainment.He shunned offers by showmen like P. T. Barnum to instead become an established stage actor and sketch artist.He made his earliest silent motion picture appearance in 1897 and his last in 1913. He also left recordings of his routines. Wilder,always signed his correspondence "Merrily yours",and he authored three books during his career: 'The People I've Smiled With' (1899),'The Sunny Side of the Street.'(1905), and 'Smiling Around the World (1908).He also edited a number of volumes of 'The Wit and Humor of America.' and 'The Ten Books of the Merrymakers.'. N.B. Some 1st edns offered at as low as $5 (£4.00) with prohibitive (profiteering?) Postage ranging from as low as $26 (£21) up to $42 (£33),reprints let alone 1sts,are included as well Since April 2013 and again in March 2015, and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering it's prices,weight allowances,dimensions and lowered it's qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact seller,because of the weight/value of this item for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

US,12mo HB,no dw/dj - as issued?
'To my friend Mrs (J or Y[?]) P. O'Connor Merrily Yours Marshall P. Wilder'.

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.