The Wit and Humor of America, Volume VIII (of X) — Edition Insights

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Authors: Wilder, Marshall P. (Marshall Pinckney), 1859-1915 [Editor] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2008 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: American wit and humor; American literature -- Humor Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 65,041

Reading time 283 min

Text sections 8

The source record for The Wit and Humor of America, Volume VIII (of X) — Edition Insights measures this digital text at 65,041 words, 4 hr 43 min estimated reading time, and 8 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 16.8 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “American wit and humor,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #24432

This volume of a ten-part anthology collects American humorous verse and prose from the early 20th century, including works by Walt Whitman, James Russell Lowell, and Finley Peter Dunne. The excerpts reveal a mix of dialect comedy, social satire, and whimsical narratives, often relying on wordplay and exaggerated situations.

Editorial Edition Score 4.7/5

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg24432

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There was no answer, save an uneasy hitch on the part of the person so addressed. He seemed to feel the focus of the sunbonnet boring into his system. The voice in the bonnet went on, shot straight toward him, so that he might not escape.

"It's a plumb shame," said Mrs. Bowles again.

"I know it, I know it," said her husband at length, uneasily. "But, now, Sar' Ann, how kin I help it? The cow's daid and I kain't help it, and that's all about it. My God, woman!"--this with sudden energy,--"do you think I kin bring a cow to life that's been killed by the old railroad kyahs? I ain't no 'vangelist. It ain't my fault old Muley got killed."

"No, it ain't my fault. Whut am I going to do? I kaint get no otheh cow right now, and I done tol' you so. You reckon cows grows on bushes?"

"Yes, or that they comes for nuthin'?"

"Yes, Sar' Ann, that's whut I said. I tell you, it ain't so fur to come, ain't so fur up here, if you take it easy; only three mile. And Cunnel Blount'll give us melk as long as we want. I reckon he would give us a cow, too, if I ast him. I s'pose I could pay him out o' the next crop, if they wasn't so many things that has to be paid out'n the crop. It's too blame bad 'bout Muley." He scratched his head thoughtfully.

"Yes," responded his spouse, "Muley was a heap better cow then you'll ever git agin. Why, she gave two quo'ts o' melk the very mornin' she was done killed, two quo'ts. I reckon we didn't have to walk no three mile that mornin', did we? And she that kin' and gentle like--oh, we ain't goin' to git no new cow like Muley, no time right soon, I want to tell you that, Jim Bowles."

"Well, well, I know all that," said her husband, conciliatingly, a trifle easier now that the sunbonnet was for the moment turned aside. "That's all true, mighty true. But what kin you _do_?"

"Do? Why, do _somethin'_! Somebody sho' ought to suffer for this here. This new-fangled railroad a-comin' through here, a-killing things an' a-killing _folks_! Why, Bud Sowers said just the other week he heard of three darkies gittin' killed in one bunch down to Allenville. They standin' on the track, jes' talkin' and visitin' like. Didn't notice nuthin'. Didn't notice the train a-comin'. 'Biff!' says Bud; an' thah was them darkies."

"Yes," said Mr. Bowles, "that's the way it was with Muley. She just walk up out'n the cane, and stan' thah in the sun on ther track, to sort o' look aroun' whah she could see free for a little ways. Then, 'long comes the railroad train, an' biff! Thah's Muley!"

"And she a good cow fer us fer fo'teen yeahs. It don't look exactly right, now, does it? It sho' don't."

"It's a outrage, that's whut it is," said Sar' Ann Bowles.

"Well, we got the railroad," said her husband, tentatively.

"Yes, we got the railroad," said Sar' Ann Bowles, savagely, "and what yearthly good is hit? Who wants any railroad? Why, all the way here this mornin', I was skeered every foot of the way, afearin' that there ingine was goin' to come along an' kill us both!"

"Sho! Sar' Ann," said her husband, with superiority. "It ain't time for the train yit--leastwise I don't think it is." He looked about uneasily.

"That's all right, Jim Bowles. One of them ingines might come 'long most any time. It might creep up behine you, then, biff! Thah's Jim Bowles! Whut use is the railroad, I'd like to know? I wouldn't be caught a climbin' in one o' them thar kyars, not for big money. Supposin' it run off the track?"

"Oh, well, now," said her husband, "maybe it don't, always."

"But supposin' it _did_?" The front of the telescope turned toward him suddenly, and so burning was the focus this time that Mr. Bowles shifted his seat, and took refuge upon another board at the other end of the board-pile, out of range.

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The eighth volume of The Wit and Humor of America gathers over thirty pieces of short humorous writing, ranging from verse to sketches. The catalog subjects—American wit and humor, American literature—Humor—are broadly accurate, but the excerpts show a narrower range than the full volume might suggest. Many selections rely on dialect, puns, and situational comedy, as in Edmund Vance Cooke's ballad about a man who dies during a Masonic initiation, leaving the judge to quip about the lack of a penalty for murder in the thirty-third degree. Others, like James Montgomery Flagg's sketch, use first-person narration and mistaken-identity plots. The humor often depends on period-specific social conventions, such as the elaborate etiquette around calling cards and hats.

Dialect and Wordplay as Comic Engines

Several excerpts lean heavily on dialect and puns. In Cooke's poem, the narrator stumbles over describing the Masonic ritual: “So he rode the—ah, that is, he crossed the—I can't tell.” The humor derives from the gap between what the reader infers and what the narrator can say. Similarly, Flagg's story features a doorman who spells out “l-a-d-y” to emphasize the visitor’s respectability. The wordplay is often labored, as in the poem “Table Manners,” where turning down a glass signals refusal of “wign” (wine). These devices date the humor but also show the editors’ preference for verbal dexterity over plot.

Recurring Social Situations and Character Types

Many pieces revolve around misunderstandings in polite society. Flagg’s protagonist mistakes a woman’s visit about a hat for a romantic encounter, leading to a comedy of errors. The “Toddy-One-Boys” are mentioned as a type of mischievous young men. Another excerpt features a Frenchman’s card with a Washington Place address, and the narrator assumes he is helping a girl in distress. These scenarios suggest that the anthology favors humor arising from social codes—calling cards, hats, and proper introductions. The characters are often stock figures: the flustered bachelor, the imperious young woman, the knowing servant.

The Volume’s Structure and the Limits of the Excerpts

The table of contents lists 38 pieces, but the excerpts cover only a handful. The full volume likely includes a wider variety of tones and styles. For instance, Walt Whitman’s “A Boston Ballad” and James Russell Lowell’s “The Chief Mate” appear in the contents but are not excerpted. The excerpts we have are dominated by narrative verse and short stories, with little representation of the satirical monologues (like “Mr. Dooley on Golf”) or the light verse (like “The V-A-S-E”). Readers should not assume the excerpts reflect the entire volume’s range; the catalog subject “American wit and humor” is accurate, but the specific flavor varies considerably from piece to piece.

Readers approaching this volume should expect a time capsule of early 20th-century American humor, where dialect, puns, and social mishaps are the primary sources of laughter. The humor is often gentle and situational rather than biting. Because the excerpts are limited, the best approach is to sample several pieces to get a sense of the anthology’s full range. The volume rewards attention to the period details—hats, calling cards, Masonic rituals—that now require a bit of historical imagination to appreciate fully.

That rainy afternoon, The Wit and Humor of America kept me company—Whitman’s sly prose, Dunne’s dialect grins—until a quiet line about stubborn hearts made me set it down. My hand drifted to Nancy Stair: A Novel — Edition Insights, and the rain outside seemed to soften, as if the two books shared a secret. I never planned the switch.