Methuen’s Library of Humour

Methuen & Co., Ltd. (London, UK)
Series dates: 1933-1936
Size: 4.5″ x 6.75″

A series of 12 anthologies, edited by E.V Knox, from 12 authors, published in 1933 and 1934 and appearing in advertisements until at least 1936.

The series jackets are common from title to title, with an overprint of the title and author of each book. In this case, the anthology is of works by Hilaire Belloc. The series name along with series editor is printed at the top of the spine, and below an illustration, the subject of the anthology, price, and publisher are printed. The jacket front consists of cartoonish drawings (common to all series jackets) and, again, the series name, editor, and subject of the anthology. The front jacket flap once again includes the series name and editor, along with the subject of the anthology and a blurb about the book.

The rear of the jacket lists the 12 authors in the series. The rear jacket flap lists additional books by Hilaire Belloc.

The twelve books in the series, with initial date of publication:

G.K. Chesterton (1933)
A.P. Herbert (1933)
W.W. Jacobs (1933)
A.A. Milne (1933)
Anthony Armstrong (‘A.A.’) (1934)
Harry Graham (1934)
E.V. Knox (‘Evoe’) (1934)
Stephen Leacock (1934)
E.V. Lucas (1934)
Barry Pain (1934)
P.G. Wodehouse (1934)
Hilaire Belloc (1934)

The books are bound in dark orange cloth with black typography and decorations.

The half-title page:

A list of titles in the series faces the title page.

The year of first publication appears on the copyright page, along with “Printed in Great Britain.”

Book printer is “Jerrold & Sons, Limited, The Empire Press, Norwich.”