Cole's Humerous Books.Paper-covered book with sewn binding behind. Cover yellowed, foxed and torn. Evidence of previous insect infestation. Pages discoloured around edges, generally yellowed, foxing throughout. Black & white illustrations. 309 pp. Fair condition.Nil.comic fiction, whitburgh cottage collection

Valentine Vox Author: Henry Cockton Publisher: George Routledge & Co Date: 1854 Further Information: The Life and Adventures of Valentine Fox. The Ventriloquist fictionThe Life and Adventures of Valentine Vox, the Ventriloquist was first published in monthly parts between 1839 and 1840, and is a satirical, lighthearted Victorian novel. The story follows a young man named Valentine Vox who discovers he has an extraordinary talent for ventriloquism. Instead of using his gift for simple entertainment, he acts as a chaotic prankster, throwing his voice in public places to stir up trouble, expose hypocrisy, and drive unsuspecting citizens to near-madness. He makes everyday items appear to speak, creates invisible crowds, and wreaks havoc in taverns, political meetings, and crowded streets. Beneath the slapstick comedy, the novel serves a serious social purpose. Valentine’s antics eventually lead him to expose the horrific conditions and corrupt practices of private lunatic asylums in Victorian England, where sane people were sometimes locked away by greedy relatives. The book actually contributed to real-world public outcry and subsequent legal reforms surrounding mental health facilities.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, book, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, valentine vox, henry cockton

fictionBoth heart-breaking and comic, Running Dogs is the coalface war the official histories do not tell.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - fiction, barry klemm

Hard cover book. Crainquebille Putois Riquet Author: Anatole France Editor: Frederic Chapman Publisher: The Bodley Head/John Lane Translation : Winifred Stephens Date: 1915 Further Information: Red Cloth hardcover with lettering and patterning to spine in gilt. The spine has a Library label with an inscription. fictionThe story "Crainquebille" is the title piece and the book's best-known story; it follows an elderly Parisian street peddler wrongly accused of insulting a policeman. The court examination is characterised by the accused's silence in the face of an intimidating judicial system, with the president answering his own questions. It's a sharp satire of French justice and how the poor are treated by the legal system arguably France's most famous piece of social criticism. "Putois" is a lighter, whimsical fable. It's about a family that invents a fictional handyman as a convenient excuse, and the lie takes on a life of its own, spreading through the town until it seems poised to become real a wry meditation on how rumours and convenient lies can calcify into truth. "Riquet" concerns the philosophical dog belonging to the character Monsieur Bergeret, who appears to be a recurring figure in France's fiction, presented here along with "The Meditations of Riquet" as connected pieces. The volume also gathers several shorter tales: "The Necktie," "The Montil Manœuvres," "Émile," "Adrienne Buquet," "The Intaglio," "La Signora Chiara," "Upright Judges," "The Ocean Christ," and the "Jean Marteau" sequence, among others.warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, book, crainquebille putois riquet, anatole france

Hard Cover Book. An English Man Looks At The World Author: HG Wells Publisher: Cassell & Co Date: 1914 Further Information: Yellow Cloth hardcover with lettering and patterning to spine in black. The spine has a Library label with an inscription.fictionPublished in 1914, this is a collection of essays by H.G. Wells consisting of journalistic pieces written between 1909 and 1914, spanning twenty-six pieces ranging from five to sixty-two pages in length. Roughly half of the essays were originally printed in the Daily Mail between 1904 and 1913, with ten more appearing in nearly as many weekly and monthly papers, and three others having had prior publication in volume form. The subjects range widely flight and aviation with the opening with Blériot's Channel crossing, the monarchy, imperialism, labour and socialism, modern warfare, sociology, divorce, education, motherhood, the future of civilisation, and more. It's essentially Wells thinking aloud in print opinionated, topical journalism rather than fiction, reflecting a period when he was consciously stepping back from novel-writing to comment directly on contemporary affairs. A companion American edition was published the same year by Harper and Brothers under the different title Social Forces in England and America.warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, book, an englishman looks at the world, h g wells, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, pattison collection, warrnambool library, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library

Waverley Novels Vol 15 A Legend of Montrose, Light brown hardcover lettering in black text. Author: Sir Walter Scott Publisher: Fisher Son & Co Date: 1837fictionThe subject volume of Waverley Novels Vol 15 published by Fisher Son & Co (1837) is part of a collected 48 volume set of Sir Walter Scott's works, containing various stories. Vol 15 in the 1836 Fisher edition reprints later entries from the fourth series, as these stories originally appeared in Scott's Magnum Opus 48 volume editions, the first from 1816. With the influential “Magnum Opus” editions from 1829–1833 by Robert Cadell, serving as the basis for later reprinted published sets like Fisher's. The story is a historical novel set in Scotland in the 1640s, during the wars of the three Kingdoms. Its main story follows Allan M’Aulay, his friend the Earl of Menteith, and Annot Lyle, against the backdrop of Montrose’s Royalist campaign and clan feuds in the Highlands. The plot combines romance, revenge, and civil war. Annot, who was raised by the M’Aulays after being taken during a clan feud, becomes the focus of a love triangle between Allan M’Aulay and Menteith; The mystery of Annot's birth holds both back from pressing their claims buy eventually her marriage to Menteith is made possible But Allan’s jealousy drives him to attack the groom. A large subplot follows with Dugald Dalgetty, a comic professional soldier whose practical, mercenary outlook contrasts with the passions and loyalties of the other characters. warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, book, waverley novels vol 46 tales of my landlord, sir walter scott, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, quentin durward, quinten durward