LUTTRELL, Henry. Crockford's : or Life in the west : dedicated by permission to the right Hon. Robert Peel. (FIRST AMERICAN EDITION - 1828 - 2 VOLUMES)

AUTHOR: LUTTRELL, Henry. 

TITLE: Crockford's : or Life in the west : dedicated by permission to the right Hon. Robert Peel. 

PUBLISHER: New York : J. & J. Harper, 1828.

DESCRIPTION: FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. 2 vols., hardbound, publisher's orange paper boards, cloth spine, original printed paper spine labels, pages uncut as issued, 2 page publisher's ads present in volume one.

CONDITION: Occasional foxing throughout, damp staining to front endpapers of volume 1, back corners bumped and rubbed, hinges fine, better then it may sound.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: A work of alleged fiction about Richard Crockford and the exceptionally successful London gaming house he created in the early 19th century. According to the DNB, the club attracted "all the celebrities in England" and was most well known for its hazard bank. The author states in his preface that the book is a work of fiction, but the stories are almost certainly real as he hopes to "unfold a system of plunder and robbery which is aiming a deadly blow at the fortunes of the great . . ." Numerous other games of chance and skill are discussed such as billiards, card games, table games, horse racing etc. There's also some mention of cheating with things such as loaded dice. The book was a hit in England, going through at least three editions in its year of publication.