This is a reprint of a book published in 1883 and 1884. There have been at least a dozen editions of this book but we believe that the 1883 edition was the first edition. This book has been reprinted many, many times. I have reprinted it here because none of the current reprints have the original cover. I do not like these newfangled covers. Why buy an 1883 book if it has a 2012 cover?

I am concerned about two things: The first is Punctuation. The outside cover here has the following punctuation: Dick's Games of Patience or, Solitaire with Cards Note that there is an extra ; on the inside title page, compared with the outside cover. The second is the number of pages. Most other reprints have a much smaller number of pages. The book reprinted here has 160 pages counting the six pages of catalog in back.

William Brisbane Dick was the author of many popular and artistic books during the 1870s to 1880s. His books are listed in the catalog at the back of this book. Among his titles were: "Dick's Comic Dialogues", "Dick's Book of Toasts, Speeches and Responses", "Dick's One Hundred Amusements for Evening Parties, Picnics and Social Gatherings", "Dick's Original Album Verses and Acrostics", "Dick's Parlor Exhibitions and How to Make them Successful", "Dick's Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes: Or How They Did It in the 1870's", "Dick's juvenile speaker for boys and girls containing original and selected speeches and recitations for young folks and little children", "Dick's recitations and readings", and "Dick's Dutch, French and Yankee Dialect Recitations, a Collection of Droll Dutch Blunders, Frenchmen's Funny Mistakes, and Ludicrous and Extravagant".