Confessions Of A Lady’s Waiting Maid, Being A True Record Of Her Marvellous Adventures In Both Hemispheres de Beresford, Fannie (Paul de Kock) - 1848

Published by the Authoress for the Booksellers, New York, 1848; First Edition; 8vo,, 240 pages; illustrated; card wraps. Ribald novel of the adventures of an enterprising young girl during her many travels engaged as a lady’s waiting maid. An inside view of the eccentric and lusty lives of the men and women of 19th century high society. A marvelous book, keenly perceptive, sharply witty, unapologetically naughty, with brilliantly crafted dialogue. Illustrated with 4 engraved plates plus a number of in-text vignettes. Back cover bears an advertisement for three recently published Paul de Kock novels and another soon to be released, suggesting that ‘Fanny Beresford,’ is a de Kock pseudonym. Indeed the fact that this is the only work by ‘Fanny Beresford’ ever recorded gives weight to such an assumption. Nevertheless, the book’s title does not appear in any of de Kock’s collected works, and the publisher may simply have associated the book with de Kock in order to capitalize on his success, thus the matter is open to question. The provocative novels of Paul De Kock (1793-1871) were wildly popular, outselling all other writers of the period, and the enthusiasm with which they were devoured in private was exceeded only by the vigor with which they were condemned in public. Of him, fearsome French critic Theophile Gauthier once wrote, "He was read by everybody, by the statesman as well as by the commercial traveller and the shoolboy, by the great ladies in society and by the grisettes. Printed on the title page, "Published by the authoress, for the booksellers at No. 41 Ann Street." Copyright by Moore & Company. Good. Front cover missing, lower rt. corner chip in blank margin of first three leaves of text, paper spine covering chipped, first two and last two leaves of text heavily foxed, otherwise scattered light to moderate foxing, binding remains intact, no missing pages, no markings of any sort. A serviceable copy of this rare title which, given its age and subject matter, is something of a miracle to have survived at all. An unrelentingly entertaining novel. Text in English.