Contents
His Life and Times (Biography)
J's Other Spots in the Shade (links)
J's Reading Room (Bibliography)
By His Hand (letters & signatures)
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John
Ingerfield and Other Stories
1st U.S. Printing Published 1894
by Henry Holt - New York
Frontispiece is a formal portrait of the author (very similar to
background of this page) and nine beautiful black and white
plates depicting different scenes from the stories by various
artists.
Binding: Tan buckram cover adorned with the Henry Holt owl, tops of rough cut pages are gold gilt. (see scan at left for detail of cover).
Availability: Rare (has not been reprinted in the U.S. in over ten years)
Synopsis: This book consists of five separate stories (see below for summary of each story), that display Jerome's talents in all types of writing, and not just humor. As J' puts it so nicely in the preface:
"To the Gentle Reader - also - to the Gentle Critic"
Once upon a time, I wrote a little story of a woman who was crushed to death by a python. A day or two after its publication, a friend stopped me in the street. "Charming little story of yours," he said, "that about the woman and the snake; but it's not as funny as some of your things!" The next week, a newspaper, referring to the tale, remarked, "We have heard the incident related before with infinitely greater humor."
With this - and many similar experiences - in mind, I wish distinctly to state that "John Ingerfield," "The Woman of the Saeter, " and "Silhouettes," are not intended to be amusing. The other two items - "Variety Patter," and "The Lease of the Cross Keys," - I give over to the critics as new humor and to rend as they will; but "John Ingerfield," "The Woman of the Saeter, " and "Silhouettes," I repeat, I should glad if they would judge from some other standpoint than that of humor, new or old.
-J.K.J.
"In Remembrance of John Ingerfield, and of Anne, His Wife": This is a sad/sweet story of two people who marry for "sensible" reasons, rather than for love. It is only during a time of great crisis (the typhoid plagues), that they find love for each other and their fellow man.
This is certainly one of Jerome's most solemn pieces I've read to date.
"The Woman of the Saeter" A hunting party loses their way, and stumbles upon a deserted cabin that had been there for a very long time. They find evidence of recent occupants who appeared to have left in a great hurry. Curious, and with nothing better to do, the party snoops about the cabin, until they locate letters written by the recent occupants. The story of the haunted cabin unfolds from these letters, revealing a ghost, a bad case of cabin fever, and a repeated murder sequence! This in turn scares the wits out of these "manly" hunters, and they hasten to leave the cabin at first light, not wanting to be the third batch of people to die in this desolate place.
This is a wonderful ghost story that should be told on every camping and hunting trip!
"Variety Patter" This is a fanciful romp through the memories of visiting the "music halls" of the day. They include the viewing of his first show as a young boy, when he was supposed to be going to the "theatre," all the way to an adult memory of a woman performer getting the best of a brawny drunken heckler!
"Silhouettes" Dark and abstract at times are the childhood memories of Jerome. This is a relation of melancholy remembrances stemming from J's youth. The jumbled recollections of troubled shadows are enough to make any reader's mouth go dry.
"The Lease of the Cross Keys" It's about a gin-loving journalist, who falls asleep during the Bishop's sermon that he was to be reporting on; a Bishop, who nearly gains himself a reputation as a bar-fly; and the proprietor of the Cross Keys Inn, who manages to get his lease extended because he told his landlord that the Bishop himself frequents his pub, and makes out better than anyone in the story over a misunderstanding!
A comical tale to close out this collection of stories on a happier note.