Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures
London: Bradbury, Evans, & Co., 1866. Square octavo, xx, 190, [10] pages, finely bound in full red crushed morocco by Zaehnsdorf. Spine with small bands, gilt lettering and decoration. Boards ruled in gilt. Inside gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Illustrated throughout in black-and-white. An attractive Victorian illustrated edition of Douglas Jerrold’s famous Mrs. Caudle’s Curtain Lectures, one of the great comic classics of 19th-century English humor. First published in the 1840s and celebrated for its sharp domestic satire, the work presents the unforgettable Mrs. Caudle delivering her endless nightly reproaches to her patient husband, turning the small grievances of married life into sparkling comic performance. This 1866 London edition is especially desirable for the lively illustrations by Charles Keene, whose designs perfectly complement Jerrold’s wit and the book’s gently exaggerated portrait of middle-class household life. A charming and highly collectible example of Victorian humorous literature. Some slight discoloration to rear board, minimal rubbing, minimal internal discoloration, else in very good + condition. Item #288
Price: $500.00