Fin de Siècle Poker

New York: Metropolitan Publishing Co, 1895. Wraps. Pocket sized booklet, original color printed embossed wraps, approx 11.5 cm, 17 pp. plus 6 pp. for record keeping, illustrations throughout. A small guide with advice and rules for poker players as well as record sheets for games played. The book is illustrated with caricatures of the amateur poker player – Pat Straight – followed by sixteen illustrations of fictional poker champions, most of them with stereotypical Jewish names and features: Dovid Bloom of Kansas City, Boomele Levy of St. Louis, Loompe Meyer of Baltimore and others. The introduction to the guide opens with "The illustrations in this work are not intended to be offensive. They are neither real nor even ideal; they are not of the type professional, or can they be said to correctly represent the amateur. They are simply productions of 'mythical Athletes of Pokerdom', sketched in Dreamland". University of Michigan and Michigan State only in OCLC. A very good copy of this scarce publication with just a hint of soiling to covers, pages toned, light crease along spine and general wear. Item #12816

Price: $450.00