Thirty Years Passed Among the Players in England and America

by COWELL, Joe

$1,000 · Offered by Biblio

First edition

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1844. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1844. Full Description: COWELL, Joe. Thirty Years Passed Among the Players in England and America:. Interspersed with Anecdotes and Reminiscences of a Variety of Persons Directly or Indirectly Connected with the Drama During the Theatrical Life of Joe Cowell, Comedian, Written by Himself. In Two Parts. Part I.- England. [Part II.- America]. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1844. First edition. Two parts in one octavo volume (9 1/16 x 5 3/4 inches; 230 x 145 mm). [3]-1-3, [1, blank]pp. With separate title-pages for each part. Continuous pagination. With one of the earliest mentions of the game poker, found on page 94. Half modern tan calf over marbled boards. Spine lettered in gilt. Marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt. Some mild toning and soiling throughout. Overall a very good copy. "The earliest contemporary reference to Poker occurs in J. Hildreth's Dragoon Campaigns to the Rocky Mountains, published in 1836; but two slightly later publications independently show it to have been well in use by 1829. Both are found in the published reminiscences of two unconnected witnesses: Jonathan H. Green, in Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (1843), and Joe Cowell, an English comedian, in Thirty Years Passed Among the Players in England and America (1844). Green and Cowell describe the earliest known form of Poker, played with a 20-card pack (A-K-Q-J-10) evenly dealt amongst four players. There is no draw, and bets ar

• Publisher: Harper & Brothers
• Year: 1844
• Edition: First Edition
• Binding: unknown

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