Talbot, J.R.:

$1,250 · Offered by William Reese Company

TURF CARDS AND TEMPERANCE OR REMINISCENCES IN A CHECKERED LIFE: CONTAINING THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF J.R. TALBOT, TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF ALL LOADING MEN WITH WHOM, PERSONALLY, THIS ... The peculiar third-person autobiography of a habitual gambler and self-styled "sporting man" turned temperance orator from Bristol, Rhode Island. The author relates the events of his life to date in florid and effusively self-congratulatory fashion, including his schooling at Philips Exeter, his start with sports betting in New York, traveling to New Orleans and playing faro in a Pullman car, and every other type of betting imaginable up and down the Mississippi. Much of the action takes place in Louisiana and New Orleans, with descriptions of a Mardi Gras ball, cockfighting, billiards parlors, card games, and more. Talbot describes being struck with the temperance spirit after losing his fortune and listening to Dr. Reynolds speak in Illinois; he would travel across the country as an orator for the cause. Although naturally his convictions were as pure as could be, he describes also the "wives of distinguished men - magnificent women - who clung to his arm with an affection which, to impure men, would appear sensual, but, to students of human nature, ennobling." Quite uncommon in the trade.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.