The Book of Wonderful Characters
What a pleasure to see that the wonderful folks at Kessinger Publishing have published a facsimile edition of Henry Wilson and James Caulfield’s early 19th-century Book of Wonderful Characters: Comprising Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Most Remarkable Persons of Every Age and Nation. Lavishly illustrated and wryly written, this is an encyclopedic and indispensible volume. At right is Old Boots, born circa 1692, who “for some length of time, filled the important office of boot-cleaner at an inn at Ripon in Yorkshire”:
He was a perfect “lusus naturae;” dame Nature forming him in one of her freakish humours. He was blessed with such a plentitude of nose and chin, and so tenderly endearing were they, that they used to embrace each other; and by habit, he could hold a piece of money between them. … He was one of those fortunate beings who could faily accomplish that which thousands of persons are ineffectually striving all their lives to attain — he could “make both ends meet!”
Tomorrow we will upload some more images from the society’s original edition of the book.
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