Ask Mamma;: Or, the Richest Commoner in England. By the Author of "Handley Cross", "Sponge's Sporting Tour", Etc. Etc.

London: Bradbury and Evans,, 1858. First edition, bound from the monthly parts in the publisher's cloth, with the characteristic stab-holes occasionally visible in the margins and traces of the original red wrappers visible at gutter before frontispiece. This work was first issued in parts between March 1857 and April 1858, and subsequently in book form in 1858. Surtees's (1805-64) novels revolve around British field sports. His "sharp, authentic descriptions of the hunting field have retained their popularity among fox-hunters" and "his mordant observations on men, women, and manners; his entertaining array of eccentrics, rakes, and rogues; his skill in the construction of lively dialogue (a matter over which he took great pains); his happy genius for unforgettable and quotable phrases… have won him successive generations of devoted followers" (ODNB). Surtees was introduced to Leech by Thackeray; for Leech, this led to "perhaps his most important partnership" and his "caricatured but more modern approach [was] the perfect foil to Surtees's writing" (ODNB). Octavo. Original vertical-ribbed pink cloth, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, ornate blind border to covers, gilt design to front cover, yellow coated endpapers. Engraved frontispiece, 12 plates, all with contemporary hand-colouring, 69 engraved illustrations in text. Contemporary ownership inscription to front pastedown, "the assassin" inscribed in the same hand below illustration on p. 187. Spine and extremities faded, spine ends bumped, occasional spots of wear to extremities, minor marks to cloth, light soiling to endpapers, corner of one leaf torn without loss of text, lower margin of a few final leaves cut short, occasional light foxing and minor marks to contents, otherwise generally clean. A very good copy. Tooley 472.