Green, J[onathan]. H.:

$850 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

GAMBLING IN ITS INFANCY AND PROGRESS; OR A DISSUASIVE TO THE YOUNG AGAINST GAMES OF CHANCE. Uncommon fourth edition of Jonathan Green's warning about the dangers of gambling for the young. Green was arguably the most famous gambler in 19th-century America. He eventually repented of his ways, and became as famous as the "reformed gambler," writing a series of books warning the public of the methods and tools of gamblers and con artists. In this book he focuses specifically on threats posed to innocent youth by the lure of gambling. Green discusses a variety of games, including "pins," marbles, "pitching coppers," lotteries, and horse racing, and other vices including tobacco, lying, disobeying parents, and breaking the Sabbath. This edition was published without illustrations, despite listing six of them in the table of contents. This copy bears an evocative gift inscription on the front free endpaper to James Russell from his Sunday School teacher, dated December 31, 1857. Green dedicates the book to three pastors, including Henry Ward Beecher of Plymouth Congregational Church, who himself would fall victim to another sort of vice when news of his adulterous affair became public two decades later. No copies of this edition are listed in OCLC.

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