PATCHWORK COMEDY by Humfrey Jordan
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1913
First Edition
Condition: Very Good+

Humfred Jordan is a puzzle. Biographical information on him is hard to come by. One source says he lived from 1885 to 1912. Yet this book and another novel were published in 1913 and 1914. But then I've seen evidence of some magazine stories by him in the early 1920s. Finally, from the '30s to the '50s, many books set at sea appeared as by a Humfrey Jordan. Were they all by the same man, or was there more than one Humfrey Jordan? Anyway, the first editions of PATCHWORK COMEDY and his other early novels are now all rare, and at least two have become popular print-on-demand items. This story of a blackmailing scheme is set in England, France and Switzerland. According to a contemporary New York Times review, the author's greatest strength was in his characterizations. The copy has staining along the top edge of the back cover and the pages, as well as slightly bumped and frayed corners, plus a few other slight flaws. A name is stamped on the front end paper. The book is tightly bound, and I detected no tears and only two page corner creases. There is no dust jacket. At the time this book was listed for sale, no other vintage copies were found on the Internet.