Judge, 1917-02-17 · page 27 of 28
Judge — February 17, 1917 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **book advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes a 20-volume set titled "Famous Characters of History" through an editorial-style pitch. The page opens with a historical anecdote: a Norman peasant girl whose "pretty feet and shapely ankles" caught Duke Robert of Normandy's eye, leading to William the Conqueror's birth. The advertisement argues this romance altered English history—no Anglo-Norman dynasty, no British Empire. The appeal is straightforward: history presented as biography is entertaining and instructive. The advertiser emphasizes these are **true stories**, not fiction, positioning the set as both morally edifying and thrilling. Featured figures include Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Napoleon. The offer itself is the hook: 20 volumes in "rich cloth binding" **at half price**, plus a bonus Dumas set, totaling 26 volumes for $1.00—explicitly labeled "never to be repeated." This reflects **early 20th-century educational marketing**: packaging history as dramatic narratives for middle-class home libraries, combining intellectual aspiration with irresistible bargain pricing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Love At SIGHT! The Most Famous—Most Momentous—Case in History The pretty feet and shapely ankles of this Norman peasant girl made her the mother of William the Conqueror. Had she not while playing in the brook unconsciously displayed these charms to the eyes of Duke Robert of Normandy, and thus fascinated him—Harold, the last of the Saxon Kings, would not have fallen at Hastings—there would have been no Anglo- Norman dynasty in England—no British Empire as we know it today. But this is only one of many true stories of the brave men and beautiful women who made history for over two thousand years, showing the extent to which Love has shaped the destinies of mankind, has ruled in Court and Camp, has exercised im- perious sway over the hearts of men and women of high degree —has in its wildest expression destroyed empires and wrecked brilliant careers—that are told in I i FAMOUS CHARACTERS OF HISTORY No Fiction Ever So Thrilling As These True Life Stories ides of March. We sce how the beauty of a woman—Cleopatra—wrecked the life of Antony, and turned aside the tide of Rome's destiny and therefore that of the world. History in the form of Biography is our great instructor. The lives of famous characters are the beacons that will guide us safely on the voyage of Never was there a set of books—no matter how costly—that will compare with this for entertainment and instruction—and the stories have the supreme it of being absolutely true. Is it any wonder that the appetite cf the reading public demands edition after edition—that no home or school library is con- 2 SUTTON ATOR ET 2 ssi pte MRO Wa We sidered complete without these wonderful books? “These twenty volumes throw wide open to us the doors of the great ones of earth. We see them as real men and women, not as demigods. We follow the fortunes of Caesar as he extends the boundaries of Rome to inchide all the known parts of the earth, and we are with him on the fatal life, though the sea of time we navigate is full ot perils. But it is not an unknown sca. It has been traversed tor ages, and there is not a sunken rock or treacherous shoal which is not marked by the wreck of those who have preced:d us, 20 Gold Top Volumes Rich Cloth Binding Each Volume 8x 5%, inches Partial List of Famous Characters Every One a Wonderful Personality These are the men and women who made history of their own day, and whose example, as guide or warning, is ‘the most precious part of our heritage from the ages. 1. Alexander the Great 2. William the Conqueror 3. Cyrus the Great 13. Xerxes 4. Hannibal 14. Julius Caesar 5. Pyrrhus 15. Nero 6. Peter the Great 16. Cleopatra 7. Genghis Khan 17. Darius the Great 8. Hernando Cortez 18. Josephine 9. Marie Antoinette 19. Queen Elizabeth 20, Alfred the Great 11. Mary Queen of Scots 12. Henry IV. A WONDERFUL BARGAIN NEVER TO BE REPEATED DUMAS GIVEN If You Are Prompt We not only send you Now the 20 volumes of Famous Characters at half price, but also— while, they. last yu_a cent—an Im; ition of [oi : eats hore elements in his Pres ers of fortune, dramatizing the manners, cus- h of the Dumas x434 inches.) In all you get 26 volumes, 5250 Pages Large, Clear Type Extra Heavy Paper 60 Full Page Illustrations in Sepia SENT NOW brings you the entire 26 vol- tmes, including the @ volume set of Du mas, ‘delivery prepaid. |The greater part OF this Baier of Famous Character of l History, offered at a discount of 50% from pists the publisher's price. has already been disposed YOUR LAST CHANCE! Price Must Be Advanced after the few remaining sets are gone that were made before the present unprecedented rise in cost of materials. All costs have more than doubled. As the result of this increase, we can obtain no more sets to offer at the present remarkable bargain price. This is fair warning. THEREFORE SEND COUPON TODAY n $i.nW se Hons Sour expense, my $1.00 to be retonded on their receipt. “yp bariz comicbooks.com