Betsey Jane Ward [Better-half to Artemus], Hur Book of Goaks (1866)(1st ed.)

First edition hardcover. 1866, New York. Condition is Very Good: Library sticker on spine, pencil note on copyright page, no other library markings. Some pencil notes on front blank, none elsewhere. Occasional foxing in text. Binding is sound. Light general wear to boards. A nice copy of an uncommon book. Author aims to offend as many people as possible and succeeds. Paginates: blanks, frontis, 312, [2], blanks, plus 11 unpaginated plates. Extremely obscure item. Please see images of the book you will receive. Notes: Author is brother of Samuel Comstock - infamous mutineer of the whaleship Globe. Such a lovely family. More notes: Satire aimed at (?) Charles Farrar Browne who was a humorist working under the name Artemus Ward. Browne (Ward) was reportedly a favorite of Abraham Lincoln. More notes: Most, but not all, first editions of this time period have the date on the title page and this copy does not. I have looked at WorldCat, online libraries and sale copies; I cannot locate any copy with a date on the title page. Pending evidence to the contrary this is a first edition. The Routledge, London edition is 1867; Hurst has an 1881 edition.