THE LIBRARY OF WIT AND HUMOR PROSE AND POETRY SELECTED FROM THE LITERATURE OF ALL TIMES AND NATIONS EDITED, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL NOTES, BY AR. SPOFFORD, Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C., and ILLUSTRATED WITH FIFTY CHOICE ETCHINGS ENGRAVED EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK VOLUME I PHILADELPHIA GEBBIE & CO., PUBLISHERS 1894 PREFACE. TH HE scope of this work is indicated by its title. Whilst the purpose of all previous compilations and encyclopedias of wit and humor has been to give, within the limits of one or two volumes, at the most, an entertaining collection of humorous extracts, anecdotes and witticisms, it has been the aim and purpose of the publishers of this work to make it truly a LIBRARY, in which may be found the most complete and comprehensive collection of the wit and humor of all ages and of all countries that has ever been published. The editors have endeavored to accomplish the purpose of the publishers. As a man who sets about collecting a library should not attempt to crowd and encumber his shelves with all the books that have ever been printed, but should search only for the best, so the editors have striven to collect-not, indeed, all of the world's wit and humor and satire-but the larger portion of that which, having outlived one or more generations and come down to us still living and full of vitality, has apparently earned a title to immortality; and also the best of that which, having not yet withstood the test of time, seems to be likely, by reason of undoubted merit, to withstand that ordeal. They nave endeavored to represent here all of the world's great masters of wit and humor and satire by their acknowledged master-pieces, not garbled, but entire; and when that was impracticable, for want of space (as in the cases of Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Dickens, Thackeray and others), by the best extracts from their best works, rather than to allow them to be unrepresented in this collection. With such works as Joe Miller's "Jests" and Goethe's "Reynard the Fox," it became necessary for the editors to take such liberties with the text as were absolutely necessary to render them fit for the family circle; but otherwise the originals have been faithfully reproduced. It need hardly be said that much of the wit and humor and satire which delighted past ages, owed its existence and charm to circumstances and accidents of time and place and person, and must, therefore, seem to all readers of our day, excepting only the Antiquarian few, lacking in interest and meaning, like pressed flowers that no longer possess color or fragrance. Only a few specimens of such ancient and venerable, but not-now-to-be-appreciated wit have been preserved in these volumes. In some instances where gems like Jack Falstaff, the Courtship of Uncle Toby and the Widow Wadman, and the case of Bardell v. Pickwick, exist only in works which could not be re-published entire in this collection, the plan of reproducing 320745 them in the form of Monographs, containing everything necessary to present them, perfect and complete in form and substance, has been adopted. As far as was consistent with the first rule prescribed for their guidance-to select only the worthiest from the most worthy-the editors have endeavored to include within this Library the largest possible number of authors and the greatest possible variety of specimens of wit and humor and satire, in the hope of, at least, nearly approximating that degree of completeness and comprehensiveness which they had in view. It was hoped that Hon. J. PROCTOR KNOTT, of Kentucky, could have given his valuable assistance to this work, from its inception to its completion, as one of its editors, but his important official duties rendered it impossible for him to do so. Acknowledgment is hereby made of many valuable suggestions received from him and acted upon. As the publishers desired that no expense should be spared to make this Library worthy of its purpose, as the best and most beautiful of its kind, it has been embellished with original or new etchings and engravings-ten to each volume-which, it is believed, will add materially to the value and attractiveness of the work. The thanks of the editors and publishers are cordially extended to the many authors and publishers of copyrighted works for the permission so generously extended, to draw upon their treasures, by means of which so much of freshness and novelty has been added to this collection. Care has been taken, wherever this courtesy has been made use of, to acknowledge the sources from which the selections have been obtained. NOTE. It is due to one of the editors, who is also represented herein as an author, to say, that he is in no wise responsible for the appearance of his own production in a work on which his name appears as editor. The selection in question was made before he had any editorial connection with the work, and the publishers afterwards insisted upon its being retained. |