This two-volume set is entitled "Gaieties And Gravities: A Series Of Essays, Comic Tales, And Fugitive Vagaries. Now First Collected. By One Of The Authors Of Rejected Addresses", and it was published in Philadelphia in 1825 by H.C. Carey & I. Lea, R. H. Small, J. Grigg, E. Parker, Marot & Walter, and Tower & Hogan, and in New York by Collins & Co. and printed by William Brown. The books are 3/4 bound, with five raised bands, the bands have gilt lines on them and gilt lettering on black and red labels on the spine, marbled boards, marbled endpapers with a Hoar armorial bookplate on the front paste-downs, the title pages are inscribed at the top by the owner - the name looks like H H Smets - and it says "Savannah January 24 1828" below the owner's name in the first volume, the first volume has a one-page Preface, three pages of Contents, and 428 pages of text, while the second volume has two pages of Contents and 414 pages of text. Topics covered a wide range of subjects, including Fortune Telling, Conjugalism or the Art of Making a Good Marriage, The Three Blind Tipplers, The Shriek of Prometheus, On An Infant Smiling As It Awakes, and the Address to the Mummy in Belzoni's Exhibition, which is probably the address most remembered. Horace Smith (1779 - 1849) is considered the author of the books, even though his name is not mentioned on the title pages. Born in London, he was an English poet and novelist who came to public attention in 1812 when the Drury Lane Theatre burnt down and was rebuilt and the managers of the theatre offered a £50 for an address to be recited at the Theatre's reopening in October. The Smith brothers, Horace and James, wrote parodies of poets of the day, supposedly their failed entries in the competition, and sold the collection under the title "Rejected Addresses". James parodied Southey, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Crabbe, while Horace parodied Byron, Moore, and Scott, and the title went through seven editions in three months and still stands as the most popular parodies ever published in the country. The book was written without malice; none of the poets caricatured took offense, while the imitation was so good that Byron and Scott both claimed they could scarcely believe they had not written the addresses themselves. Horace went on to become a stock broker and produced about twenty historical novels. We don't know if the books are a first edition, but they came out in 1825, the same year the first edition was published. The books are 8vo. and measure 7 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. wide, the bindings are very tight and the boards and covers are in very good condition, with clean leather and clean marbling, and the only blemishes are a speck of wear at the crown, tads of rubbing near the tips, and brown spots in the margins and on the text, and you wouldn't notice when the books are closed. Have fun reading. #94 #1622