Peck, George W. Adventures of one Terence McGrant; A Brevet Irish Cousin of President Ulisses S. Grant, who Graduated from a Western Poor-House - Terence Did, not Ulissis - And Who Has Been Having Considerable Trouble about getting Properly Settled into a Paying Office, notwithstanding his Relationship, as will be Seen by a Careful Perusal of these Pages. Contains Letters from the Seaside, Entertaining Reading for the Fireside, and Invaluable Information for the Suicide. New-York: James H. Lambert, 1871. First Edition. [6264]
Purple cloth stamped in blind & gilt, some old stains to the binding, spine is faded, 7 1/2 x 5 inches, two contemporary gift inscriptions on ffep with one dated 1871. 261 pp., several plates, lacks the rear free end paper. Good. Hardcover.
Dedication: "To Me Celebrated Wife, Bridget McGrant, who, But for the Error of being Born a Woman, Would Have Been Won of the Greatesht of Living Shtatesmen, and Who, as it is, Has a Mighty Dealt to Say Ony Way, and Who, If I Didicated Thish Book to Ony One Else, Would be Afther Bating Me to Me Hairt's Contint, and May be She Will Ony Way, Thish Book is Mosht Reshpectfully Didicated by the Author, Terence McGrant."
A satirical farce on the corruption of the Grant Administration, in which a fictional cousin heads to Washington DC to seek a "paying position" from his kinsman. Written in vernacular by the author of the "Peck's Bad Boy" series.
"At the time President Grant appointed the first regiment, or such a matter, of his relatives to office, the people of the West begun to notice that there were a great many relatives that year. In fact, it seemed as if you couldn't make a noise in the woods anywhere without scaring one out. There was occasionally a man that made some sarcastic remark about it; and finally, one James O'Reiley, a fine old Irish gentleman, of that locality [Ripon, Wisconsin], came to town on St. Patrick's day, and, after getting in a quantity of corn extract, became hilarious, and announced it as his intention of proceeding to Washington, claiming to be a cousin of the President, and get a regular post-office. The idea was so ludicrous that the country editor went to his office, and 'set up' the letter which first appears in this book..." - from the Preface.
George Wilbur Peck (1840-1916), American newspaperman and author; an officer in the Fourth Wisconsin Volunteer Calvary during the Civil War; he rose through the ranks of Democrat politics in Wisconsin, serving as a city treasurer, chief of police, chief clerk of the state assembly, and as mayor of Milwaukee, then as Governor of Wisconsin for two terms beginning 1890. His humorous Peck's Bad Boy series, written in a style similar to Mark Twain, earned him fame as an author and were very popular with the American public.
