Gilbert Grenville (3 results)

Hard Cover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 4th Printing. 4th printing (Ford-Smith, Folio 76 #1140). Includes publisher's slipcase. Fine book in near fine slipcase. Slipcase faintly scuffed. Binding tight and square, pages clean, bright, and unmarked. 2003 Hard Cover. 288 pp. A collection of humorous vignettes by various authors, with contributions by William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickens, Winston S. Churchill, the Queen of England, G.K. Chesterton, P.G. Wodehouse, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, Groucho Marx, etc., etc. Ever since Chaucer's day, when the host of the Tabard Inn in Southwark rose to welcome the Canterbury Pilgrims with a joke, the After Dinner Speech, designed, if possible, to reduce the assembled company to helpless merriment, has presented the ultimate challenge. The best speakers are natural story-tellers - Gerard Hoffnung, reading a selection of letters from continental hoteliers: 'There is a French widow in every bedroom affording delightful prospects'; John Mortimer telling the woeful tale of a man's numerous unsuccessful attempts to murder his wife: 'At no time did Mrs Scott feel that the magic had gone out of their marriage' - and in this collection of post-prandial treasures you will find the very best of them, from Groucho Marx on how to resist a femme fatale, to Ralph Steadman surreally addressing the Lewis Carroll Centenary Dinner. 'Goodness', said a friend on greeting Mae West, 'where did you get those beautiful pearls?' 'Goodness', replied Mae, 'had nothing to do with it.' Shaggy dog stories, practical jokes, sporting anecdotes, rousing toasts, travellers' tales and risque reminiscences rub shoulders in this essential collection with real-life revelations and moments of history. Among the guests are Peter Ustinov, Jilly Cooper, Brian Johnstone, Charles Dickens, Dorothy Parker, Robertson Davies, Henry Grady and A.P. Herbert. There is food and drink in abundance. There is gentle reflection and endearing charm as well as defiant frivolity. Above all there are stories for every occasion - witty, absurd, momentous, philosophical, fascinating, poignant, and forever entertaining.

Condition: Très bon. Nos envois se font avec suivi, pour tout problème n'hésitez pas à nous contacter pour trouver une solution.

A new printing. A study based on the J. H. Grenville Gilbert Collection. Pp. viii+96, 48 plates (including frontispiece), text illustrations, indices, annotated bibliography; demy 4to; pictorial papered boards, a trifle silverfished and slightly soiled, edges and spine faded; a little light foxing; Ray Riling Arms Books Co., Philadelphia, 1976. New edition. *Issued for the Bicentennial Anniversary of the American Revolution. Originally published in 1946. The J. H. Grenville Gilbert collection of American powder horns and primers was presented to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1937.