Judge, 1913-07-26 · page 24 of 24
Judge — July 26, 1913 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **book-club advertisement**, not a political cartoon. It promotes subscription editions of O. Henry's complete works (12 volumes) paired with a free Rudyard Kipling collection (6 volumes). **Key appeals to modern readers:** The ad positions **O. Henry as "The American Kipling"**—comparing a contemporary American short-story writer to the already-famous British author Kipling. This suggests O. Henry's literary status was still being established in the early 20th century. **Sales tactics visible:** The copy emphasizes scarcity ("40,000 Sets Already Sold"), urgency ("Only a few days more"), and risk-free trial ("Send Both Sets Back If You Like"), strategies familiar to modern direct marketing. **Cultural context:** The enthusiastic tone about O. Henry's stories—particularly "The Arabian Nights of New York"—reflects period fascination with urban American life as literary subject matter. The page reflects early subscription-edition publishing models before mass-market paperbacks existed.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Given Away x 7B ot" KIPLING Beautifully Bound in Cloth, to Those Who Send the Coupon at Once for the Only Complete Subscription Edition of 40,000 Sets | Sohne Already Sold ERE offered at a bargain as irresistible as it is extraordinary, H One edition of O. Henry’s complete works was published at $125. and every set was sold on the bare announcement, If you paid this much for one of them, this offer will not interest you—otherwise you cannot afford to miss it—for you are here given the chance of a lifetime not only to get a] set of Kipling FREE, but also to have sent free for your examination the only other subscription edition of 0, Henry in existence and secure it, if satisfactory, for only a small fraction of $125.—and pay for it at the low rate of only $1.a month for a few months. Not to know O. Henry is to confess oneself unfamiliar with the best of American fiction, for O. Henry is “The American Kipling,” ‘“The American DeMaupassant,’’ the American master of the short story—the founder of a new style. Just Join the “O. Henry Club” It costs nothing to investigate. But you must be prompt. Then you will understand why other nations are going wild over him. Why memorials to him are being prepared. the text-books of English literature are including his stories; why colleges are discussing his place in literature; why theatrical firms are vying for rights to dramatize his stories. Each story—v , human, real—may lay bare some social wrong, or just a quaint, dear glimpse of good and happiness and fun. The ‘‘Arabian Nights of New York’'—his tales] of the big city—catch the glamour, the romance, the elusive, seething spirit of the ‘Four | Million.’? Each story may spring a surprise, or lead you gently along, only to turn and laugh at you in the end. The American World meets in O. Henry's pages and gets to know itself bet ter. His books are inimitable—human as the clasp of a friend’s hand and as alive at the laughter of a child. O. HENRY KIPLING 428 12 volumes bound in green silk | 6 volumes, 179 stories and Stories | cloth and gold. Gold tops; il- }| poems, red silk cloth, lustrated; 249 complete stories. [| gold tops. How We Can Make You This Low-Priced Offer ). Henry Club" is closing—Only a few days more and the most popula ing will be a thing ofthe past i as irresistible as : zn the coupon below o " *, not only to have a co cle se . Henry sent you on approval, | Wrathessl toner % P but to get the beautiful 6-volu ‘works in 12 volames, gold tops, folome et of iplng, bees ia ? Send Both Sets Back If You Like pamphlet ; pen without mone today: tt will bring for the “O. Henry” set and retain the Kipling set free. Otherwise Iwill, within ten days, return both sets at your expense. * It cost it'will bring you rielight and & act right now. This {san offer that won't walt fw: without money. Then eit down and wait for ® feal pleasure anda real trea % %. % Review of Reviews Company {n'ai texerioms Minding. change 13 months abere to 14 monte 30 Irving Place New York comicbooks.com