Project Gutenberg 2007-04-21 Public domain in the USA. 452 Masson, Thomas L. 1866 1934 Masson, Thomas Lansing Masson, Tom Little Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor, Volume I Reading ease score: 74.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. IRVING: Wouter Van Twiller -- Wilhelmus Kieft -- Peter Stuyvesant -- Antony Van Corlear -- General Van Poffenburgh FRANKLIN: Maxims -- Model of a Letter of Recommendation of a Person You Are Unacquainted with -- Epitaph for Himself BUTLER: Nothing to Wear BEECHER: Deacon Marble -- The Deacon's Trout -- The Dog Noble and the Empty Hole GREENE: Old Grimes HOLMES: My Aunt -- The Deacon's Masterpiece; or, the Wonderful "One-hoss Shay" -- Foreign Correspondence -- Music-Pounding -- The Ballad of the Oysterman WILLIS: Miss Albina McLush -- Love in a Cottage PALMER: A Smack in School SHILLABER ("Mrs. Partington"): Fancy Diseases -- Bailed Out -- Seeking a Comet -- Going to California -- Mrs. Partington in Court -- SILL: Five Lives FIELDS: The Owl-Critic -- The Alarmed Skipper HAY: Little Breeches SHAW ("Josh Billings"): Natral and Unnatral Aristokrats LOWELL: The Yankee Recruit -- What Mr. Robinson Thinks WARNER: My Summer in a Garden COZZENS: Living in the Country LELAND: Hans Breitmann's Party WHICHER: Tim Crane and the Widow SAXE: The Stammering Wife KELLEY ("Parmenas Mix"): He Came to Pay HOLLEY: A Pleasure Exertion STEDMAN: The Diamond Wedding MISCELLANEOUS: Why He Left -- A Boy's Essay on Girls -- Identified -- One Better -- A Rendition -- A Cause for Thanks -- Crowded -- The Wedding Journey -- A Case of Conscience -- He Rose to the Occasion -- Polite -- Lost, Strayed or Stolen -- A Gentle Complaint -- Music by the Choir TWAIN: The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calveras County. Produced by Bryan Ness, Janet Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "Little Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor, Volume I" by Thomas L. Masson is a collection of humorous writings and anecdotes compiled from various renowned American authors, likely originating in the late 19th century. The anthology showcases contributions from significant figures such as Washington Irving, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mark Twain, and Benjamin Franklin, capturing the wit and whimsy of American humor through a diverse range of excerpts, poems, and narratives. At the start of this anthology, the editor offers insight into the selection process, emphasizing a blend of well-known and lesser-known pieces that highlight the colorful characters of American imagination. The opening sections introduce readers to amusing historical figures, starting with Washington Irving's portrayal of Wouter Van Twiller, who is characterized as a ponderous and humorously indecisive governor. These early tales establish a playful tone, setting the stage for a delightful exploration of the quirks and follies that define the characters and situations in the accompanying collections of wit and humor, thereby inviting readers to appreciate the rich tradition of American comedic storytelling. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en American wit and humor PN Text Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Humour Browsing: Literature 348174 348139 2024-10-09T09:15:24.262040 2023-09-09T10:58:51.727088 text/html text/html 353273 2021-01-02T16:00:08 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 179940 2021-01-02T16:00:08 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 285810 2024-10-09T09:15:37.687863 application/epub+zip 285267 2024-10-09T09:15:29.623894 application/epub+zip 196754 2024-10-09T09:15:27.536895 application/epub+zip 568343 2024-10-09T09:15:42.079815 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 614523 2024-10-09T09:15:35.483856 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 495537 2022-09-10T06:07:22.709288 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 273790 273688 2024-10-09T09:15:22.719941 2023-09-09T10:58:50.377102 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 273611 2021-01-02T16:00:08 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 112259 2021-01-02T16:00:08 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 273608 2021-01-02T16:00:08 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 112207 2021-01-02T16:00:08 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 23266 2024-10-09T09:15:42.221848 application/rdf+xml 22456 2024-10-09T09:15:28.134898 image/jpeg 4774 2024-10-09T09:15:27.836899 image/jpeg 269537 2024-10-09T09:15:24.294930 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia