Oakum pickings: a collection of stories, sketches, and paragraphs

New York: No 9. Murray Street: W. J. Johnston, Publisher, 1876. Later printing. Cloth. Good. Later printing. [6], [7]-188 pages. 6 7/8 x 5 1/4 inches. Publisher's mustard cloth with stamped decorations in black and gilt. Cancel author's name pasted on title page (the original author name was "John Oakum"). The frontispiece is an engraving with Facsimile signature of Walter P. Phillips below. This copy INSCRIBED by the author Phillips on second flyleaf "To William D. Tyler Esq. | With the cordial regards | of Walter P Phillips | New York April 8, 1890". Owner name "W. S. Tyler No 464" inked on recto of frontis. Cloth. A (presumably) later edition of this work, with the author properly identified. Another copy we've seen for sale has the author listed as "John Oakum" with title page date of 1876, and the frontis engraving identified as John Oakum. That edition has fewer pages (176) but has two pages of ads in rear and with a green binding.

"Walter Polk Phillips (June 14, 1846 - January 31, 1920) was an American journalist, telegrapher, and inventor who created the Phillips Code, a brevity code which introduced the abbreviations POTUS, for president of the United States, and SCOTUS, for Supreme Court of the United States. He later became the head of the United Press...Phillips worked for the Associated Press from 1875 to 1879, serving as the New York Bureau's assistant general manager. Most sources say that it was during this period of time (c. 1879) that he created what came to be known as the Phillips Code. It had become clear to him, as a veteran telegrapher and journalist, that certain words were frequently used in news dispatches; he devised a special system of abbreviations that would make sending and receiving news stories much easier. The Phillips code quickly became popular with newspaper telegraphers, and it soon became the standard at newspapers of that era.Also during this time, in July 1876, Phillips released a work of humor and social commentary, under the pen name John Oakum. [AS HERE] Newspapers described it as "a collection of stories, character sketches and paragraphs" based on some of the telegraphers Phillips had known. " (Wikipedia)

PROVENANCE:
The library of telegraph historian Bill Holly.