Told After Supper

Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, n.d. (?1891). 1st USA. h/b. Very good, 1st USA edition (undated but prob 1891), original blue clothbound boards, with bright gilt spine and cover titling/design; text block firm with patterned endpapers; untrimmed pages crisp and unmarked, printed in blue ink. Donor's neat inscription on 2nd fep.. 8vo: crown (200 x 140 / 8"" x 5_""). Told After Supper (1891) is a collection of short ghost stories written by the English writer Jerome K Jerome. The collectionÕs ÒintroductoryÓ starts as follows: ÒIt was Christmas Eve. I begin this way because it is the proper, orthodox, respectable way to begin [É] The experienced reader knows it was Christmas Eve, without my telling him. It always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story.Ó Hence, all the short stories included here happen on Christmas Eve and their events are marked with the presence of supernatural elements. Being all told by a first-person narrator, the stories are entitledÒHow the Stories Came to be Told,Ó/Teddy BifflesÕ story,Ó/ÒThe DoctorÕs story,Ó/ÒMr. CoombeÕs Story,Ó/ÒMy UncleÕs Story,Ó/ÒA Personal Explanation,Ó/ ÒMy Own Story.Ó Jerome mingles the fantastic with humor and even tells jokes about ghosts to mix the feeling of fear with laughter. He classifies these nightly visitors into Òmiddle-class ghosts,Ó Òyoung ghosts,Ó Òconscientious ghosts,Ó Òaverage British ghosts,Ó and Òlady spectersÓ who are Òcontradictory and snappish, and liable to burst into tears.Ó They all hold their annual feast on Christmas Eve, their Ògreat gala night.Ó