The Minstrel Show or Burnt Cork Comicalities: A Collection of Comic Songs, Jokes, Stump Speeches, Monologues, Interludes, and Afterpieces for Minstrel Entertainments. Written and Compiled by Ed. Marble. ("Casey at the Bat")

First edition thus, with additional contributions. 12mo. 36pp. Illustrated advertisements. Tan pictorial self-wrappers printed in black with front cover reproducing a cameo vignette drawing of an African-American minstrel figure, holding a book and gesturing dramatically. Covers and text are tanned, lightly soiled and foxed due to cheap wood-pulp paper, slight separation at spine edges but the binding is tight, with a small mended tear at lower corner of spine, a very good copy. A scarce publication, with a very early appearance of "Casey at the Bat" that is unrecorded by *OCLC* with this expanded text and pagination (36pp). *OCLC* locates an earlier printing of this publication in a slightly smaller format, different pagination (64pp), and text does not include publication of "Casey at the Bat." An early appearance of "Casey at the Bat," printing Ernest Thayer's original version of the poem in its entirety (concluding with ". mighty Casey has struck out"), not noted by various bibliographical references, including Martin Gardner's *The Annotated Casey at the Bat*. In addition to the minstrel "Comicalities" this title prints other monologues including a 'Women's Rights/ Stump Speech,' and the entire text of "Casey"; also present is a full-page advertisement for a baseball 'glove' marketed as "A Baseball Curver," with a large woodcut illustration of a baseball player wearing the glove and stating "Play Ball.".…