Artifice Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table (AKA: The Expert at the Card Table)(circa 1905)

Early edition of this famous book. Condition is Fair: images show large chips to wraps with smaller chips to edges of early interior pages. The paper is fragile and mishandling will result in more chips. Pages are quite toned. Paginates: wraps, blank leaf, 178, 6 blank leaves. No interior writing. Title on spine reads "Expert at the Card Table" lacking "The" in front of "Expert." We should discuss dating of this book. I am not an expert on this but here is what I do know. Drake began printing this around 1904 and continued for decades. Dating this book requires seeing a lot of them and doing some research. First take a look at the titles on the back wrapper. The most modern books there were first published in 1904 ("Toasts" and "Ventriloquism"). All others are earlier. This book could be as early as 1904. Note the prices: The cloth version of this book is being offerred at 50 cents. The circa 1902 London cloth editions were $2. Pagination: Early editions were 178 pages with 6 blank leaves at the back. Later editions are 205 pages. The 178 page edition was abridged by Drake because it was cheaper. I am not clear on when this was expanded to 205. I have seen auctions listing 205 pages for editions from 1905. I have no idea if that was correctly dated. Spine title: This copy reads "Expert at the Card Table." Later editions read "The Expert at the Card Table." Publisher: the earliest editions were published "By The Author." Then Drake picked it up. Binding: This binding is glued not stapled. Stapling indicates a later issue. Paper quality: The fragile heavily toned paper is consistent with the acidic paper used for cheap paperbacks from 1890's-1910's. If the paper looks fresh then it is fresh and not from this time period. Consultation: I reviewed this item with a source more familiar with the title and he suggested circa 1906. I was thinking 1904 so I am listing this at circa 1905. Copyright reads 1902. This is worthless for dating. Don't do it. If someone knows more about this topic and finds errors in my presentation please feel free to improve my education. This book is for the collector and not for reading. Notes: auction records for paperbacks show only a few and most are later issues. That is no surprise given the ephemeral nature of this very cheaply made paperback. As best I can tell the last time a similar copy was sold was 1986. More notes: in the interest of transparency I had a conversation with an AI and it informed me this book was likely published between 1918-1927 citing the source who advised me this was likely 1906. So there you go. Please see images of the book you will receive.…