A Colossal Idea; an original farce

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Ltd., London/New York, 1932

  • First Edition
  • Hardcover
  • Used
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Seller: ReadInk, ABAA/IOBA, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.ReadInk, ABAA/IOBA

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AbeBooks seller since February 24, 1998

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Hardcover

Condition: Used - Near fine

US$ 200.00

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Item description from seller

[very nice copy, light wear to base of spine; jacket lightly soiled, very slight paper loss at spine ends, a few tiny closed tears]. (pen and ink drawings) A one-act trifle about a fellow with the improbable moniker of Wellington Yellowboy, whose trusting and devoted wife thinks he's working every night into the wee hours on editing the 123rd edition of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica -- but who in fact is stepping out on the town, cavorting with various young lovelies at Fancy Balls and the like. Mrs. Yellowboy's long-absent brother suddenly appears, however, and (after a suitable bit of mistaken-identity-type confusion) blows his cover. This previously-unpublished and unperformed piece, evidently found among Gilbert's papers (although the introduction doesn't specifically say so), was deduced from internal evidence to have been written sometime between 1855 and 1870 (in which year Mr. Gilbert was introduced to Mr. Sullivan). It's funny enough, in an arch-Victorian kind of way, but it probably would have benefitted from a few songs. Per the copyright page a "limited number of Copies [were] issued with hand-coloured illustrations; this, alas, is not one of that unknown number of copies, but is fairly scarce in its own right, especially with the illustrated jacket.

Seller Inventory # 22736

Bibliographic details

Title
A Colossal Idea; an original farce
Author
Gilbert, W.S.
Publisher
G.P. Putnam's Sons Ltd., London/New York
Publication year
1932
Condition
Near Fine
Dust jacket
Very Good dj
Binding
Hardcover
Illustrator
Illustrated by Townley Searle
Edition
First Edition.

ReadInk, ABAA/IOBA

Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.

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AbeBooks seller since February 24, 1998

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Welcome to ReadInk (rhymes with "Dead Ink"), now in our 29th year of putting interesting books into the hands of interested people. **** Although I occasionally lapse into the "royal we" voice, ReadInk is just me, from one end of the pipeline to the other: buying, cataloging, customer service, shipping, you name it. Nothing here is automated, and every order or inquiry gets my prompt, personal attention. **** In describing a book's physical condition, I employ standard book-grading terminology (Good/Very Good/Fine, with various in-between gradations as appropriate) and do my best to avoid both excessive jargon and overly-finicky detail. My goal is always to present a faithful impression of a book's condition and appearance; significant flaws are individually noted, or if too numerous are succinctly summarized. **** Books are more than just physical objects, however: they are also intellectual/information vessels, and in almost every case I also include some information about a book's content in my listing, even if it's only a carefully chosen quotation from the dust jacket copy. (This may sound like a small thing, but take a look sometime and you'll see how amazingly few sellers bother with this, especially in the case of older fiction, which is one of my specialties.) **** I take great care (and pride) in my packaging of books for shipment; I figure it's my responsibility to ensure that each book I send out will withstand the rigors of the U.S. Postal System, and will reach its new owner in the same condition as advertised. (A sturdy box or an unbendable package is always involved.) **** That's all there is to ReadInk: just a guy who has loved books all my life (perhaps to excess) and entered the trade in my "middle years" to see what I could make of it. And I'm still finding out. **** To view my inventory exclusively, head over to my website -- www.readinkbooks.com. ---- Howard Prouty, prop.

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