Henry A. Dickerman & Son
PUBLISHERS
MCMI
Copyright
1901,
by
Henry A.
Dickerman
& Son.
“A little nonsense
now and then,
Is relished by
the best of men.”
Oliver
❦ Wendell
Holmes.
A Foreword.
❦
In compiling this volume we have endeavored to add pictorially to the
amusement in these funny conceits from Field’s versatile brain.
The majority of the sketches herein, appeared in the Denver _Tribune_,
under the title of _The Tribune Primer_, with various sub-titles,
beginning Monday, Oct. 10, 1881, and ending Monday, Dec. 19, of the
same year. The entire number of these quips was about 162, of which 94
were first published in book form as _The Tribune Primer_, in 1881.
The balance, with the exception of five which are so local in their
application that they have now lost some of their fine sarcastic humor,
we here present for the first time with illustrations.
In their original form the sketches were designated by Roman Numerals
instead of titles and were made up of short sentences, with a liberal
display of capital letters after the style of first lessons in reading
for children.