PHOENIXIANA: OR, SKETCHES AND BURLESQUES
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1856. Eleventh Edition. Hardcover. Duodecimo, 7 1/2 in. x 5 in. Brown publishers cloth, blind-spamped decorations to front and back boards. Gilt portrait to front board. Some rubbing to extremities, corners bumped. Cloth chipped to front hinge, top and bottom of spine. Letters in gilt on spine with humorous scene in gilt. pp. [1], 274, [14-advertisements]. Dark maroon colored pastedowns and free endpapers. Pencil inscription to front free endpaper "B[ueyins], J.H. Hofman, Sept 17, 1859" [possibly 1889]. Pencil inscription "Dave y[o]cum" to the back of frontispiece. Portrait frontispiece with printed autograph. Pencil inscription "J.H. Hofman" to titlepage. Some spotting, mostly in margins and first 25 pages. Faint damp stain to bottom edge of rear advertisements. Internal pages clean. (Sabin 19665). Good. Item #85406
The army lieutenant George Horatio Derby (1823-1861) wrote popular sketches and burlesques under the pseudonym John Phoenix or John P. Squibob. After graduating from West Point in 1846, he joined the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers to fight in the Mexican-American War. In 1853, Derby relocated to San Diego. In his spare time there, he wrote short sketches and burlesques for the San Francisco Herald, California Pioneer, and the San Diego Herald. Topics included military surveyors, travel accounts, and local women's clubs. He compiled his writings into the present publication, which saw 11 editions in one year. (Wikipedia).
Price: $95.00