The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. A Book for an Idle Holiday -
Jerome K. Jerome
1887 - Field & Tuer, London - First Edition, very early issue
Jerome K. Jerome’s second book, which ‘was an instant success, and sold extremely well for many years’ [JKJ Society]. Scarce early issue of 1887, first printed in 1886.
Perfect for a gentleman’s leisurely read, preferably pipe in hand, it is dedicated to ‘My oldest and strongest Pipe’. With chapters such as ‘On Being Hard Up’, ‘On Being Idle’, ‘On Eating and Drinking’, and on ‘On Being in the Blues’. Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859-1927) was born in Walsall, but moved to London with his family as a young boy. After leaving school at fourteen, he worked as a railway clerk, but spent much of his spare time acting with various theatre companies and reading in the library of the British Museum; his first novel, On the Stage – and Off was loosely based on his thespian experiences. His 1899 novel, Three Men in a Boat – a fictional though exaggerated account of an actual boat trip on the River Thames that Jerome took with two friends – became a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic, despite lacklustre critic reviews, selling a million copies in America alone, and bringing it’s author world wide fame.
First edition, early issue, with price of 2/6 to front board and spine in italics; missing ‘not’ between ‘ought’ and ‘to do’ on page 41 line 9; verso of title page with code T.4283; publisher’s catalogue detailing at least 5 books published in 1887, and not listing 6 titles first published in 1888 (see below).
Reference: The Jerome K Jerome Society, Bibliography.
Octavo (book size 20 x 13.5 cm), pp. [8] 172 [1 (ad for ‘On the Stage-and Off’)] [1] 8 (publisher’s catalogue) [2]. Publisher’s lemon yellow cloth, spine and front boards lettered in black, floral centre emblem blocked in black to front and rear boards. Verso of title with publisher’s logo and code (T. 4283), publisher’s 8 page catalogue to rear with code [25,000–T 4,329.]. Price of 2/6 to front board and spine.
Dating according to publisher’s catalogue - books listed that were first published in 1887 - Price ‘The Signs of Old Lombard Street’; ‘Dame Wiggin Of Lee’ & ‘Deborah Dent and Her Donkey’; ‘The Bairns Album for 1887-8’; Tuer ‘The first year of a silken reign’. Books first published in 1888 and not listed - Loftie ‘Kensington. Picturesque & Historical’; Fiennes ‘Through England on a Side Saddle’; Ashton ‘Men, Maidens and Manners’; Sellers ‘Tales from the Lands of Nuts and Grapes’; Mackay ‘A Lover’s Litanies’. Condition: Very good plus, some light soiling and one or two marks to covers, toning to endpapers. Ref: 109444 Price: HK$ 1,800
Perfect for a gentleman’s leisurely read, preferably pipe in hand, it is dedicated to ‘My oldest and strongest Pipe’. With chapters such as ‘On Being Hard Up’, ‘On Being Idle’, ‘On Eating and Drinking’, and on ‘On Being in the Blues’. Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859-1927) was born in Walsall, but moved to London with his family as a young boy. After leaving school at fourteen, he worked as a railway clerk, but spent much of his spare time acting with various theatre companies and reading in the library of the British Museum; his first novel, On the Stage – and Off was loosely based on his thespian experiences. His 1899 novel, Three Men in a Boat – a fictional though exaggerated account of an actual boat trip on the River Thames that Jerome took with two friends – became a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic, despite lacklustre critic reviews, selling a million copies in America alone, and bringing it’s author world wide fame.
First edition, early issue, with price of 2/6 to front board and spine in italics; missing ‘not’ between ‘ought’ and ‘to do’ on page 41 line 9; verso of title page with code T.4283; publisher’s catalogue detailing at least 5 books published in 1887, and not listing 6 titles first published in 1888 (see below).
Reference: The Jerome K Jerome Society, Bibliography.
Octavo (book size 20 x 13.5 cm), pp. [8] 172 [1 (ad for ‘On the Stage-and Off’)] [1] 8 (publisher’s catalogue) [2]. Publisher’s lemon yellow cloth, spine and front boards lettered in black, floral centre emblem blocked in black to front and rear boards. Verso of title with publisher’s logo and code (T. 4283), publisher’s 8 page catalogue to rear with code [25,000–T 4,329.]. Price of 2/6 to front board and spine.
Dating according to publisher’s catalogue - books listed that were first published in 1887 - Price ‘The Signs of Old Lombard Street’; ‘Dame Wiggin Of Lee’ & ‘Deborah Dent and Her Donkey’; ‘The Bairns Album for 1887-8’; Tuer ‘The first year of a silken reign’. Books first published in 1888 and not listed - Loftie ‘Kensington. Picturesque & Historical’; Fiennes ‘Through England on a Side Saddle’; Ashton ‘Men, Maidens and Manners’; Sellers ‘Tales from the Lands of Nuts and Grapes’; Mackay ‘A Lover’s Litanies’. Condition: Very good plus, some light soiling and one or two marks to covers, toning to endpapers. Ref: 109444 Price: HK$ 1,800