[Clark, Thomas M.] John Whopper the Newsboy. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1871. First edition. Published anonymously. Octavo, [1-5] 6-128 [note: fly leaf inserted at front and rear]. Original red pictorial cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, pale yellow endpapers. Illustrated with line drawings on an inserted two-page spread at the frontis. Rubbing to spine ends, some wrinkling to front free endpaper, several pages lightly stained, generally a very good copy of a book that tends to have received hard usage. #333. $75. The author was the Bishop of Rhode Island and, to shield his ecclesiastical dignity, published anonymously what became a minor children's classic, a story about the rewards of juvenile entrepreneurial moxie. John Whopper, a Boston youth whose part-time job is the early morning delivery of newspapers around Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, takes a short cut one morning, umping over a fence with his bundle of Boston Heralds under his arm and landing accidentally in a hole that carries him straight through the earth until he pops out the other side in China, in the area of Canton (a local in-joke as Canton -- accent on the first syllable -- is also the name of a Boston suburb). His possession of that day's papers from a major Western city, which would normally take weeks to arrive by ship, gives them a greatly increased value, which he shrewdly realizes, selling them at a premium and using the proceeds to buy Chinese newspapers which he carries back with him (via the same route) to Boston, likewise selling those at a premium. He carries on this trade until the arrival of the internet makes his business model irrelevant. Seller Inventory # 333

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Bibliographic Details

Title: John Whopper the Newsboy

Publisher: Roberts Brothers

Publication Date: 1871

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

Edition: 1st Edition

Store Description

When I began my bookselling business in 1996 I called it "Eldritch Books" because that adjective at least partly covered the type of material I offered (and because its similarity to my own surname seemed so -- eldritch). "Ghost stories" would be another handy, if somewhat reductive, term. Most of it is fiction from the 19th and early 20th century with a strong emphasis on the fantastic. Since the most familiar and relevant genre terms in use today -- "science fiction," "fantasy," "supernatural," "horror" -- were not so much in use when these books were first published, pegging them that way can be anachronistic. But that should give you the general idea. I don't have much in the way of American pulp (either in magazine or specialty press book form) but otherwise my interests range widely from high-brow to middle-brow to low-brow to amateur/eccentric. You're more likely to find rare and obscure works here than high spots. (Or at least they're obscure now, whatever their status was when first published.) In 2001 I went to work for L. W. Currey as cataloguer and general assistant. Since 2014 I've been back working on my own. I have exhibited at convention fairs (such as WFC and Readercon) in the past. I began collecting and studying antiquarian fantasy around 1980. Some of my essays have appeared in genre publications such as NYRSF, Wormwood and F&SF. I tend to carefully research my inventory and write extensive notes. (If another dealer wishes to make use of any of these notes, I'd appreciate the courtesy of putting such excerpts in quotes and giving proper attribution to me. That's what I do when I quote from any of my reference works.) I will be gradually listing my inventory on ABE over the coming years. I hope you find something of interest.

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Robert Eldridge, Bookseller
NY, U.S.A.

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Robert Eldridge
P. O. Box 293
Elizabethtown NY 12932
USA.
Tel: 518-873-9966.
Email: rfx51@charter.net.

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I ship only by U.S. Postal Service. All shipments are packed carefully and mailed with insurance and (for domestic shipments) tracking information. Except where specified for extra large items, rates are: Domestic (within USA) Media Mail: $5. Domestic Priority: $10. International First Class (must be under 4 lbs.): $25. International Global Priority (...

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