15. My First Book

8 a4 B-U8 X4. Pp. i-vii viii-xxiv 1-3 4-309 310-12.
Contents: i half-title: MY FIRST BOOK; ii PRINTED BY / SPOTTISWOODE & CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE / LONDON; iii blank; iv frontispiece (portrait); v title-page; vi blank; vii viii-xvi INTRODUCTION / BY JEROME K. JEROME; xvii-xviii CONTENTS; xix-xxiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS; 1 blank; 2 portrait of Walter Besant; 3 4-309 text; 310 blank; 311 ornament, decorative boat on water; 312 blank.
Printed on wove paper, size 201 x 142mm.
The illustrations are by various artists, though George Hutchinson and A. S. Boyd predominate, and there are some photos. Within each chapter, they are in the same sequence as in the original articles in The Idler, though some are omitted.
Endpapers are patterned, with a light green floral design.
*Dull blue cloth, lettered in gold and black on front and spine; spine: My / First / Book / With a Preface / by / Jerome K. / Jerome / Chatto & Windus.
Inserted after the final gathering is a 32 page Chatto & Windus list dated April, 1894, printed on poor wove paper. The entire text on each page is within double rules; pp. 1-25 are an alphabetical list by author, after which there are lists of books in series.
Previously published in The Idler, vol. 1, no. 5, June 1892, to vol. 5, no. 1, February 1894, and vol. 6, no. 1, August 1894. The sequence of articles in the book differs slightly from The Idler sequence. Reviewed in To-Day, 6 October 1894.
Copies seen: FR, APR (4).