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Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich
by Leacock, Stephen
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Monterey, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York and London: John Lane, Bodley Head; Toronto: Bell & Cockburn, 1914. First Canadian Edition. 8vo. 310 pp. Red cloth with gilt lettering in scarce publisher's color illustrated dustjacket. A fine copy in very good dustjacket (spotting along the spine and flap folds; light wear to extremities, more so to spine end), still a nice copy of the scarce first Canadian edition. "Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich" follows the members of the 'Mausoleum Club' on Plutoria Avenue, in an unnamed American city (usually referred to as Plutoria, after its main street), and pokes fun at their obsessive individualism and materialism. As Leacock thought humour to be 'the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life and the artistic expression thereof', "Acardian Adventures" tends to steer slightly away from this form of 'kindliness', and, thus, ranks as one of his most scathing works, as well as arguably one of his funniest. Per the Chicago Evening Post: "Crisp conversation and paragraphs jammed with American sarcasm of the gilt-edged variety characterize this latest effort of a really humorous humorist. Mr. Leacock penetrates upper-class sham and satirizes it cheerfully. This is almost certain to generate little chuckles and long smiles for the intelligent proletarian who treats himself to these 'adventures.'" - wiki.
Synopsis
Stephen Leacock was born in Swanmore, Hampshire, England, in 1869. His family emigrated to Canada in 1876 and settled on a farm north of Toronto. Educated at Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto, Leacock pursued graduate studies in economics at the University of Chicago, where he studied under Thorstein Veblen. Even before he completed his doctorate, Leacock accepted a position as sessional lecturer in political science and economics at McGill University. When he received his Ph.D. in 1903, he was appointed to the position of lecturer. From 1908 until his retirement in 1936, he chaired the Department of Political Science and Economics. Leacock’s most profitable book was his textbook, Elements of Political Science , which was translated into seventeen languages. The author of nineteen books and countless articles on economics, history, and political science, Leacock turned to the writing of humour as his beloved avocation. His first collection of comic stories, Literary Lapses , appeared in 1910, and from that time until his death he published a volume of humour almost every year. Leacock also wrote popular biographies of his two favourite writers, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. At the time of his death, he left four completed chapters of what was to have been his autobiography. These were published posthumously under the title The Boy I Left Behind Me . Stephen Leacock died in Toronto, Ontario, in 1944.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Carpe Diem Fine Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 21396
- Title
- Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich
- Author
- Leacock, Stephen
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Canadian Edition
- Publisher
- New York and London: John Lane, Bodley Head; Toronto: Bell & Cockburn
- Date Published
- 1914
- Keywords
- , , , ,
Terms of Sale
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9.25% sales tax will be charged California residents.
About the Seller
Carpe Diem Fine Books
Biblio member since 2009
Monterey, California
About Carpe Diem Fine Books
Carpe Diem Fine Books offers a discriminating selection of out-of-print, signed and unusual books in all fields – with an emphasis on the history and literature of California and the West. Proprietors James Bryant and Mary Hill have served an international clientele of private collectors and libraries since 1995. Their book gallery, located in a charming 1930's Carmel stone building just steps from the Robert Louis Stevenson House in historic Old Monterey, features a constantly changing inventory - from the classics to the unexpected.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
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