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VALENTINE VOX, THE VENTRILOQUIST;—by Henry Cockton, Esq. Embellished with Sixty richly humourous Engravings on steel, by S. Onwhyn.
Demy 8vo. cloth, gilt back, (640 pp.) price 10s.
This is one of the most amusing and deeply interesting publications of the day. The power of an accomplished Ventriloquist is well known to be unlimited. There is no scene in life in which that power is incapable of being developed; it gives its possessors an absolute command over the actions, the feelings, and the passions of men; while its efficacy in loading with ridicule every prejudice and every project whose tendency is pernicious, cannot fail to be perceived at a glance. The design of this work, although essentially humorous, is not, however, to excite peals of laughter alone: it has a far higher object in view, namely, that of removing the most prominent of our social absurdities and abuses, by means the most peculiarly attractive and pleasing.
"A very humorous and amusing little work, detailing the life of a Ventriloquist. It abounds in droll scenes, which will keep the most melancholy reader in a side-aching fit of laughter as long as he has the book in his hands."—Times.
"This is a clever Bozian work, very smartly and shrewdly written. The illustrations, by Onwhyn, are original, and facetious."—Court Journal.
"A racy production of the class which Mr. Dickens has rendered so popular. Valentine, the hero, is a youth, who having witnessed the performance of a Ventriloquist, finds, after much practice, that he can himself accomplish the feat. It is scarcely necessary to mention the lots of fun of which this may be made the foundation."—Weekly True Sun.