Gambling Memorabilia

Meyer, Joseph E. Protection. The Sealed Book. Milwaukee: Joseph E. Meyer Author and Publisher, 1908. First edition. Lacking plain outer wrapper, but solidly bound with brass brads and binding tape as issued. 100 pp. Profusion of illustrations. 8vo. Outer leaves chipped and worn, internally good to very good. In a gilt-stamped drop spine box. Rare. Meyer began his professional career as a printer and typesetter, sometimes working the publishers of gambling supply catalogs in Chicago and Milwaukee. This led to his interest in crooked games and cheating, and eventually his authorship of this, his first book. According to the notes of Clarence Meyer, his son, “My father printed this book in a small bedroom in Hammond, Indiana. The pages were made up piecemeal.” When finally completed, the books were crudely bound with whatever materials were available; hence, no consistent binding state is known for the first edition, or the second. Joseph Meyer went on to write several classic texts on herbs and home remedies, and founded the Indiana Botanic Gardens.