OWN YOUR OWN HOME. [At head of front cover: "More Fun by Ring W. Lardner."]

Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, [1919]. [4], 123 pages. Numerous drawings in the text by Fontaine Fox, who also illustrated the covers. Original paper-covered boards printed in red and black. 19.5 x 13 cm. Slight loss to the paper covering the rear joint from insect nibbling, else very good. Light wear to the spine ends with one letter of publisher's name rubbed away, spine a little sunned, slight browning to ends of spine and edges of covers, tiny split to one corner. Early gift inscription on front free endpaper, faint foxing to endpapers. Text leaves are a little toned, as expected, but clean. An attractive copy overall.FIRST EDITION. A collection of stories told as letters by a Chicago policeman, Fred A. Gross, to his brother Charley. Fred's epistles deal little with his professional life and instead "focus on efforts to get along with his middle-class neighbors in a Chicago suburb and his attempts to move up in society" (ANB). The stories were originally printed in “Red Book“, but this was their first appearance in book form. Bruccoli and Laymen saw no copy in a dust jacket and the book was probably issued without one. This was the second of the two Ring Lardner books illustrated by popular cartoonist, Fontaine Fox (1884-1964), who is best known for his long-running comic, "Toonerville Folks." Bruccoli and Layman, “Ring W. Lardner: A Descriptive Bibliography,“ A9.