Sub-titled 'A Selection of Unpublished and Unfamiliar English Prose and Verse from the Turn of the 19th Century.' Autobiographical introduction by Barry Humphries, 'There was a cluttered bookshop ... that I haunted after school, and Mrs. Bird ... would push some slim volume across the counter with the words 'I think you're ready for this, Mr. Humphries'' and 7pp. of bibliographical and biographical notes re the contributors. Thirty-eight contributors, two illustrations - manuscript draft of aphorisms by Oscar Wilde and a photograph of Lord and Lady Alfred Douglas at home. #21/85 numbered copies, inscribed by the printer (who is also the dedicatee of the book). Laid in is an autograph letter, signed to the recipient of the inscription explaining the reticence of the printer's inscription and with some background and thoughts on the contributors, 'As you know, the Nineties was not a noticeable time for poetry, except for Hardy and Yeats, but some of the decadent verse has a certain dismal charm.'
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