Being Memoranada of The Gradual Rise of Literature, Art, Music,
And Society in Chicago, and Other
Western Ganglia
by
EUGENE FIELD
With an Introduction by
Julian Hawthorne.
The frontispiece is a pen-and-ink sketch of "the Author at the Age of 30 (A.D. 1880)," such as Field frequently drew of himself; the symbolic emblem, which takes the place of a dedication, was a string of link sausages "in the similitude of a laurel wreath," representing "A Chicago Literary Circle," and the tail-piece was a gallows, to mark "The End."
Writing to a friend in Boston, in 1893, Field said that he thought "the alleged advertisements at the end of the volume are its best feature." These were introduced by a letter from one of Field's favorite fictitious creations, "Felix Bosbyshell," to Messrs. Ticknor & Co.:
CHICAGO, June 26th, 1887.
Dear Sirs:—I am informed that one of the leading littérateurs of this city is about to produce a book under your auspices. Representing, as I do, the prominent advertising bureau of the West, I desire to contribute one page of advertisements to this work, and I am prepared to pay therefor cash rates. I enclose copy, and would like to have the advertisements printed on the fly-leaf which will face the finis of the book in question.
Yours in the cause of literature,
FELIX J. BOSBYSHELL,
For Bosbyshell & Co.
This was accompanied by a Publisher's Note, which Field also supplied: