Description
Original 1902 first edition of Captain Jinks, Hero by Ernest Crosby, published by Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York and London, and illustrated by Dan Beard. The copyright page specifically states “Published February, 1902.” Bibliographic records confirm the first-edition collation as vii, 393 pages, with nine Beard illustrations.
This is much more than an attractive turn-of-the-century novel. Crosby wrote Captain Jinks, Hero as a pointed anti-militarist and anti-imperialist satire, using the career of its fictional soldier to lampoon the jingoism and military hero worship surrounding the Spanish-American War and subsequent American expansion. Contemporary and later scholarship recognizes the book specifically for this political and historical context.
* First edition, published February 1902
* Complete copy with all nine Dan Beard illustrations
* Original multicolor pictorial tan cloth binding
* Distinctive cannon-and-smoke front-cover artwork, with the cover design signed “B.S.” and bibliographically attributed to F. Berkeley Smith
* 393 pages plus preliminary matter
* Illustrated throughout with full-page political and military cartoons by Dan Beard
* Strong crossover appeal for collectors of early American political satire, anti-war literature, Spanish-American War-era material, Dan Beard, and decorative publisher bindings
* Early former-owner signature appearing to read “J. C. Norris” on the front free endpaper; identity has not been established
The elaborate pictorial front board remains colorful and highly presentable, and the interior is notably attractive for a book more than 120 years old, with clean, sharply printed illustrations. Condition includes age-appropriate rubbing and shelf wear, wear/fraying at the spine ends and corners, age-darkened text-block edges, and some marking/soiling to the plain rear board. No dust jacket is present. The book remains complete.
A handsome and historically meaningful first edition combining political satire, striking period illustration, and an unusually appealing decorated cloth binding.
Please view all the photos for a complete look at the binding, pages, illustrations, and condition.
