z 1217 E^KN A BALL OF YARN Its Unwinding by Robert Rudd Whiting This Ball of Yarn is composed of four skeins of three yarns each, and each a hummer. These yarns are so strung together and so in- geniously interwoven with snappy dialogue that once the reader catches hold either of the thread of discourse or of the yarn itself, he is carried on, willy-nilly, to the ultimate end, hopelessly enmeshed and helpless with sup- pressed laughter. Others have yarned before: Ananias, Sap- phira, Munchausen, Mark Twain and a host of others — some entertainingly, others pains- takingly, still others exasperatingly. But when Whiting knits his brow, thoughtfully plucks at An Initial from <*The Yarn of the Two-Tailed Pointer" a stray raveling from up his sleeve and proceeds to reel off a skein or two, one feels a certain awe — the kind of feeling that gets into your system when you stand in the presence of an Egyptian pyramid, a Persian monolith, a Cali- fornia giant sequoia. This is no com- mon liar. Here is no cheap charlatan. This is he — it must be he — the lineal descendant of the man who invented the Jonah story ! The Yarn of the Breathbound Vil- lage, The Yarn of the Brawny Bats- man, The Yarn of the Sinner Stung, are not yarns to make you yawn but yarns to make you yearn for more. When you are blue with care, red with anger, green with envy, or purple with rage, you will be sure to find some yarn of a cheering and lively color here. Illustrated and decorated by Merle Johnson. Bound in Oriental Yarn Yellow boards. 75 cents net. Postage, 6 cents. From **The Yam of the Inventive Vamp* HOW TO TELL THE BIRDS FROM THE FLOWERS A Manual of Flornithology for Beginners by Robert W. Wood One of the many annoying homologies graphically sketched by Professor Wood Professor Wood of Johns Hopkins University, author of "Flu- orescence and Magnetic Rotation Spedra of Sodium Vapor and Their Analysis," might claim close affinity to Lewis Carroll, the profound mathematician and creator of the inimitable Alice in Wonderland droller- ies. Nature students who have hitherto been unable to differentiate between such homologous species as the Crow and the Crocus, the Par- rot and the Carrot, the Cow-bird and the Cowslip, will hail this little volume with shouts of joy. Though, " Very few can tell the Toucan from the Pecan — here's a new plan!'' While the author's high stand- ing in the scientific world places him beyond such attacks as have been direded against other nature writers, his drawings, though clever, are subjed: to criticism. Sometimes we even have the uncomfortable feeling that he is poking fun at us. Bound in blue School-book boards. 50 cents net. Postage, 4 cents. In Cat-bird cambric. 75 cents net. Postage, 4 cents. A Cover Design by Will Jenkins BETEL NUTS WHAT "THEY SAY'' IN HINDUSTAN Interpreted and Rhymed in English by Arthur Guiterman Heres Frolic Truth in Oriental guise ; A verse may find him who a sermon flies, A meaty little book — full of Betel Nuts cracked and hulled, ready for chewing, and, if you will, even digesting. These "nuts" are piquant and pungent proverbs of the Orient. More than mere proverbs — they are really shrewd conden- sations of stories illustrative of life in India. As the Betel Nut — the chewing-gum of the Orient — spices the breath and reddens the lips of the native, so do these folk- words and jest-rhymes, leaping from mouth to mouth in the gossip of the bazaars, give spice and color to the native speech. They are naturally far more lively than the prov- erbs of the West, for they are of the living speech of the people ; the Hindu is gifted with a free and pidhiresque fancy and his tongue is a scabbardless sword ; and yet, different as they are, they show that the "unfathomable Oriental mind'* grasps the fads of life in much the same way as the American or European intelledl. This colledion consists of typical sayings, — wise, witty, sarcastic, passionate and senti- mental, — from every quarter of the great Empire of Hindustan, rhymed in English couplets and quatrains with skill that has preserved the full spiciness of the originals. Forbear to kill him for the sake Of ail the Widows thou wouldst make ! A pidorial frontispiece in color has been done by Will Jenkins. The typography con- ceived in East India style is most distindive. Printed in deep tan-brown. Bound in Betel Nut buff boards and red silk fiber, 75 cents net. Postage, 5 cents. A Page of Distin£Uve Typography THE QUITE NEW CYNIC'S CALENDAR /oripog by Ethel Watts-Mumford Grant Oliver Herford and Addison Mizner With which is incorporated a Lexi- con of Legal Phrases designed to enlighten the uninitiated, by Ethel Watts-Mumford Grant. The Cynic's Calendar for 1908 awaits your perusal. Who would not be a Cynic, if the term applies to the genial, wise and whimsical outlook on life that this little book expresses in such trench- ant form ? Every epigram is a bit of bright silver, clean cut and fresh coined fori 908 use. "Wade and found wanting" From the Cynic's Calendar roii 1908 C» fy right ^IQOJ If*s darkest before pawn. It is perhaps safe to say that within re- cent years no booklet of diverting non- sense has been provocative of so much mirth and laughter as this Calendar of Re- vised Wisdom. This year's edition brings the total up to 1 50,000 copies. Just how many smiles and hearty laughs this figure represents might be difficult to estimate, but doubtless the book has amply fulfilled its mission as a joy pill and a sure antidote for the blues. Its appearance alone is enough to drive dull care away. Profusely decorated and illustrated and printed throughout in green and black. Bound as formerly in a variety of gay ginghams. 75 cents net. Postage, 4 cents ** Better an empty house than an ill tenant ' From the Cynic's Calendar for 1908 Cofjrighty igo7 THE AUTO GUEST BOOK Containing the Mobile Maxims of Punbad the Railer Ethel Watts-Mumford Gjiant and Richard Butler Glaenzer Responsible ** So near and yet — Chauffeur ! As a fun-maker The Auto Guest Book of Mobile Maxims rivals the " Cynic's Calendar " in spice and spontaneous gaiety. While conceived in the form of a log book for motor- ists, it will serve equally well as enter- tainer of the guest who waits while the machine is being fixed. It should be in the emergency kit of every tour- ing-car. If you own an amiable and diligent motor, you should recompense it with some desirable and appropriate gift. What better can be found than The Auto Guest Book? If, unfortunate- ly, you or your friends possess a cranky, unreliable machine, admonish the culprit by means of The Auto Guest Book, which provides in publishable language unforgetable epi- grams (and epithets) for the abuse of ill-tempered cars. The color scheme of black and blue upon warm tan may be too sug- gestive of how one may look after a spill from a red devil, but it is de- cidedly attradive. Every genuine lover of the devil, the red devil, we mean, will consider the day when he or she ac- quires the book a red- letter day. EfFedively bound in full rough linen boards^; warranted to stand the jolting of the car. |i.oo net. Postage, lo cents. In red automobile leath- er. Boxed. $3.00 net. Postage, 10 cents. A double guest page ample enough to record all happenings — bar profenity A CENTURY OF MISQUOTATIONS Disarranged by Mary B. Dimond A Century of Misquotations, if truth must be told, is a tri- umph of audacity and cleverness, the author further being aided by a unique sense of humor. The scheme of the book is deliciously simple. One hundred familiar quotations are united in unholy wedlock with as many others. O womariy in our hours of ease^ Uncertain^ coy, and hard to please. But seen too oft, familiar with her face. We first endure, then pity, then embrace. Mere cleverness could never have inspired the creation of this little book. It took nerve — just that. Gaily printed in green and black and bound in Oriental colors. Boxed. 75 cents net. Postage, 3 cents. In yellow lambskin. Boxed. J 1. 50 net. Postage, 3 cents. THE MATRIMONIAL PRIMER By V. B. Ames. With a Picftorial Matrimonial Mathematics by Gordon Ross Don^t give your husband a backcomb for a birthday present. Here is an ideal gift for the married friend or the friend about to take the fatal plunge. Arranged somewhat as a primer with many bits of elegant trifling in the way of catchy verse and epigrammatic prose, with an occa- sional pinch of good common sense, salted in, as for instance : Absence may make the heart grow fonder ; presents have been known to have the same effe5f, A book to be read, quoted and thoroughly enjoyed. Supplemented in an unusual manner with decorations and illustrations in two colors by Gordon Ross. Bound in dainty fabric. 75 cents net. Postage, 5 cents. From the Mateimonial Pbimir Cofijright^/gOS THE LOVE SONNETS OF A HOODLUM A Sonnet Cycle Already Become Classic By Wallace Irwin With an Introdudtion by Gelett Burgess The Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum is no- table in the many editions that have been called for, having had a wider circulation than the work of any contemporary writer of verse, however ambitious. Printed and bound in chaste simplicity. 25 cents net. Postage, 4 cents. Bandanna Edition. 50 cents net. Postage, 5 cents. = 1 II ==[ T H 1? LOVE SONNETS OF A HOODLUM = Bj WALLACE IRWIN WITH AN INTRODUCTION Bj OELETT BUROBSS fAtn, ELDER AND COMPANY «AN rtANCIICO AK» KIW VOKS = 1 I. A Chaste Title Page THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM, JUNIOR A Daring Poem Much More Than a Parody By Wallace Irwin With a Scholarly Introdudion and Remarkable Illustrations by Gelett Burgess. Couched in the most exalted lan- guage. Mad with a surprising de- gree of sanity. A good part of the rubaiyat shows what a healthful form of wisdom nonsense may be- come. Bound in yellow silk fiber. 50 cents net. Postage, 5 cents. To- bacchanalian Edition. Bound in brown burlap, extra. Ji.oo net. Postage, 10 cents. Quotable rubai from Irwin's Omak Junior Note — Thi Lovi Sonnets or a Car Conductor, the same author, now being published as a serial, be brought out in book form next spring. PROSIT: A Book of Toasts Compiled by Clotho for the Spinners' Club of San Francisco Composed of bibulous lyrics and out- bursts of Omarism from California, the land of the vine, and other genial sources. The contributors range all the way from Will Irwin down to Will Shakespeare, from Anacreon up to Gelett Burgess. A book full of the spirit of the vine, touching all chords from wisdom to frivolity, poetry and sentiment to non- sense and satire, while many of the toasts are even a bit wicked. Strongly bound in canvas, extra. *$i.25 net. Postage, 8 cents. Omarian Edition. Bound in nut-brown Spanish leather, leather-lined. Boxed. *J3.oo net. Postage, lo cents. A Frontispiece by Gordon Ross Here's to the stein : '^ 'Tis not so wide as a church door nor so deep as a well, but * twill serve ! '* SOVEREIGN WOMAN VERSUS MERE MAN A Medley of Pertinent Quotations. By Jennie Day Haines The evidence is not as one-sided as the title may suggest. Clever and famous writers are freely quoted without favor or prejudice : Marie Corelli, Zangwill, Hobbes, Emerson, Holmes, Voltaire, Disraeli and an abundance of others. A separate case is tried upon *each double page. Spinsters, wives, widows and queens are ar- rayed against bachelors, husbands, widowers and kings, and even cooks and poets are heard from. Delightfully decorated and with frontispiece in tone by Gordon Ross. Bound in heavy Rhinos, ^i.oonet. Postage, 6 cents. Inflexible suede. Boxed. $1.7 S ^^^' Postage, 8 cents. SovKREiGN Woman Versus Mkre Man A Cover Design by Gordon Ross THl FV/m-riSH HAS QMH VfmS, AND W//FV HIS- FOE HE SPIZS HE jyt^s mHT o\n or vjater qi/ick, JI/ST SFRZAOS HIS VflNC^S, m OlfS. WONDERS OF THE DEEP An Invaluable Aid to Young Naturalists. By Johnny Jones A naive treatise on various finny folk and other denizens of the deep. Truthfully described in rhyme and completely illustrated. Some thirty creatures are subjeded to a keen analysis by the youthful poet and nature student. Wonders of the Deep lacks none of the cleverness and humor of its predecessor, the Book of Na- ture ; moreover, there is something of an eerie charm about the book, a touch of deep-sea mystery, that is delightful. Bound in Grasshopper Green. 25 cents net. Postage, 4 cents. School Edition. Covered with cam- bric by his Mother. 50 cents net. Postage, 5 cents. BOOK OF NATURE Faithful Sketches in Black and White with Impressions in Rhyme. By Johnny Jones. Spelling by his Mother. A most important work on land zoology. An indispensable addi- tion to every child's library. Mosquitoes drive you almost mad^ They come around at night ; When you re not asleep they buzz^ And when you are — they bite. Completely illustrated and bound in red Royal Melton. 25 cents net. Postage, 4 cents. School Edition. Covered with cambric from Moth- er's scrap-bag. 50 cents net. Post- age, 5 cents. Other lively creatures also sketched from life- with the aid of a magnifier A lively member of the finny tribe sketched from life by Johnny Jones THl THIN(rS T HAT£ tHl MOST OF All- TO HAVE. AROUNp, ARC FUAS, THEY JVMP m CI^WL ALL CVEK W. m Bm yov wwe/er the/ puasc. THE REMARKABLE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE BOY PIP A Fascinating Story for Children of all Ages By Philip W. Francis Relating the hazardous journey ot a Httle lad over the meadow to the Place Where the Sky Comes Down and of his subsequent amazing adven- tures in the Enchanted Swamp upon an excursion personally conducted by our mutual friend the Welsh Rabbit. A tale full of delicious thrills to make children squirm with dehght and which will furnish almost as much amusement to grown-ups, recalling the strange adventures of Alice in Won- derlandy yet full of a flavor that is most original. One lively situation succeeds another quaint charaders are introduced. Cover Design by Merle Johnson OfF to the Enchanted Swamp on the back of the Welsh Rabbit in rapid fire order. Many The Welsh Rabbit is one of the most captivating creations to be met with in juvenile fidion, — or in any other place, — warranted not to make one dream o' nights or suffer anything worse than a hearty laugh. The animated Oomlout, the Hap- hazards (that may occur anywhere) and the Thing That Hides Behind the Door are fully as unique. Brisk and witty dialogue keeps the reader in a continual bubble of merriment. Full-page illustrations in bright colors occur fre- quently, in addition to which, each page of text is enlivened by clever sketches of Boy Pip and his odd friends of the En- chanted Swamp, done by Merle Johnson. This book is of ample dimensions, almost square in format. Unusually bound in broad-strip brown boards, buckram back. $1.50 net. Postage, 13 cents. The Oldest Tadpole A Text Illustration BLOTTENTOTS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM I AM P«INCt Or*Ht IMKT IMW AMD Klf*ft gf THt BUjrTTEHTOT CMM MV AN0e2T1CC.t KKt A pcoiavct OF A ROVAk PUKTH-ISH HUC ONCt r\r LOT