"Albert Grope" [The Story of a Belated Victorian], by F.O. Mann, published by Book League of America, New York, 1931.

Art Deco stamping on orange cloth, hard boards, original orange cloth with Art Deco decorations and lettering on spine and front board [a little shelf wear, spine fading], 5.1/4" x 7.3/4"; Art Deco decorated endpapers, 576 pages, very good condition.

"Humorous and entertaining story of a self-made business man in a South London suburb through the early years of the twentieth century. The impoverished protagonist, Albert Grope, responds to a card in a second-hand bookseller's window that reads: "Wanted intelligent boy for this shop. No idiot need apply," and from these - surely unpromising - beginnings, succeeds in developing his own thriving advertising business.

Francis Oscar Mann (1885-1935) was British writer and editor. He edited the works of Thomas Deloney for the Clarendon Press in 1911, and published some volumes of poetry in the 1920s, but it was with the character Albert Grope that he "made his mark."

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) ----------- $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c 2-6 weeks) -- $27.50
World: 1st Class (c 2-8 weeks) --- $35.50