The sunny side

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Author of If I May, The Dover Road, Mr. Pim Passes By, etc.
1922
My publisher wants me to apologize for— introduce was the kindly word he used—this collection of articles and verses from Punch . I do so with pleasure.
Among the many interests of a long and varied career —
No, I don't think I shall begin like that.
It was early in 1871 —
Nor like that.
Really it is very difficult, you know. I wrote these things for a number of years, and—well, here they are. But just to say Here they are is to be too informal for my publisher. He wants, not a casual introduction, but a presentation. Let me tell you a little story instead.
When war broke out, I had published three of these books in England, the gleanings of nine years' regular work for Punch . There are, I understand, a few Americans who read Punch , and it was suggested to me that a suitable collection of articles from these three books might have some sort of American sale. So I made such a collection, leaving out the more topical and allusive sketches, and including those with a more general appeal. I called the result Happy Days —an attractive title, you will agree—and in 1915 a New York publisher was found for it.
This is a funny story; at least it appeals to me ; so I won't remind myself of the number of copies which we sold. That was tragedy, not comedy. The joke lay in one of the few notices which the book received from the press. For a New York critic ended his review of Happy Days with these immortal words: