Merryman, Dick (pseud.) | "The Mirth and Jollity of the Christmas Holydays"

Merryman, Dick (pseud.)

Round about our Coal Fire: or, Christmas Entertainments. London: Printed for J. Roberts, 1734

8vo (216 x 137 mm). Half-title with publisher's advertisements on verso, 7 woodcut illustrations including a fine cut of Jack Spriggins; half-title and terminal leaf a trifle discolored, lacks 88-page publisher's advertisements at the end.  Stabbed and stitched, housed in a modern card box.

The fourth edition, "with great additions" and the first to contain "Jack Spriggins" (i.e. "Jack and the Bean-stalk" pp. 35-48). Popular work on magic and conjuring with an account of a hoax involving a woman said to give birth to rabbits, and some rather racy parlour games, including "Puss in the Corner," in which, "when a man catches a woman he may kiss her till her ears crack." This wry treatment of witchcraft also features an account of the legendary conjurer Isaac Fawkes (1675–1732).

REFERENCE:

ESTC N69555; Toole Stott 611