The Round Table Annual : The Four Flirts: Their Cards and How They Played Them and A Pair of Madcaps. A Story of Impulse

Warren, Ernest (Illustrated by Hal Ludlow)

Published by London "Judy" Office 1881 & 1883, 1881

About this Item

First editions. 2 vols bound as one, each with its original colour illustrated card cover. 118 and 122 pages respectively. Bound in red Victorian half calf, with marbled boards, simple gilt decoration to the spine and a gilt-lettered title label, the boards are quite bumped and rubbed, the hinges are worn and beginning to split and there is minor loss at the spine ends. The text block is slightly foxed, marked and age toned, with some dog-eared corners, 'A Pair of Madcaps has the initials "J. W. B." and the date "Oct 1883" neatly written in ink to the cover. The Round Table Annual was one of a slew of "shilling shockers" published to capitalise on the period's boom in cheaper colour printing, increased literacy and general prosperity, an expanded version of the cheaper weekly periodical "Judy". Ernest Warren wrote at least nine novels for the Annual during the 1880s, all romances or tales of crossed love. The first of these, The Four Flirts, is more a series of interconnected short stories, 4 young women in their 20s, all of whom have had bad experiences with men decide to emulate King Arthur and form a council to protect other women from suffering their fates at the hands of unworthy and unfaithful men, but first to prove their suitability for the task each recounts the story of their life and the tragic events that befell them. The second story is a more linear, decidedly racy romance with a happy ending, in which a teenage girl runs away to London alone in pursuit of her older would-be lover, stays with her recently married friend who finds her husband dull and, as he is frequently away, finds other men to flirt with, and the two embark on a series of adventures, the younger woman eventually realising her folly and finding true love with a comparatively respectable young man nearer her own age. The Four Flirts turns up quite often, A Pair of Madcaps is more seldom seen, and both are rarely found with their colour illustrated covers present, these two, as they were evidently bound almost immediately, retaining much of their original vibrancy. Seller Inventory # 6795

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Round Table Annual : The Four Flirts: ...

Publisher: London "Judy" Office 1881 & 1883

Publication Date: 1881

Edition: 1st Edition