Title: Diprose's Book of Epitaphs - Humourous, Eccentric, Ancient and Remarkable

Publisher: Diprose and Bateman, London

Date Printed: 1879

Description: A unique museum-quality item. Two small leaves of handwritten Victorian notes of graveyard epitaphs. 

The leaves are loosely inserted in the Sixpenny softback book "Diprose's Book of Epitaph's. These books were published in the Victorian era and provided entertaining or sensational reading for railway journeys.  Although produced in large numbers, they were regarded as disposable at the time, and survivals can be relatively scarce.   

7.5 inches by 5 inches. 80 pages, plus engraved frontispiece.  In attractive condition. Wear and very slight loss to spine, light creasing and toning to page edges, binding sound and square (see pictures).  

One manuscript leaf is folded and  written on two sides in a copperplate hand. It records a serious 1737 epitaph from Bramfield Church in Suffolk. The other, smaller, leaf is written on both sides and includes the comic epitaph "Here lies my poor wife, a sad slattern and shrew / If I said I've regretted her, I should lie too". A unique item.

Provenance: We have recently acquired a large private collection of yellowback books and Victorian pulp publications.

We take great care in the packaging of all our books to ensure that they arrive as described. 

Please view our other books now on sale at our ebay shop, Goodman Books. We have over 5,000 fiction and non-fiction books listed for sale at all prices, specialising in Modern First Editions, Signed Books, Detective Fiction, and Supernatural Fiction. We add new stock regularly to ensure that we always have new and interesting books for sale.