"The Pardoner's Wallet", by Samuel McChord Crothers, published by Houghton and Mifflin, Boston, First Edition, Third Printing, November 1905.

Hard cover, original decorative publisher's cloth (some soiling and wear: see scan); 5" x 7.1/2"; 287 pages on genuine high quality laid paper (a little soiling, a few small edge creases), discarded library book w. vintage stamp inside front cover and bags in the back, blind stamp on title and 1st text pp, a few repairs, fep is missing, otherwise clean, good condition.

Contents:

The Pardoner. Unseasonable Virtues. An Hour with Our Prejudice. How to Know the Fallacies. The Difficulties of the Peacemakers. The Land of the Large and Charitable Air. A Community of Humorists. A Saint Recanonized. As He Sees Himself. A Man Under Enchantment. The Cruelty of Good People.

"...The essays brought together in "the Pardoner's Wallet" have at least a certain community of interest. They treat of aspects of human nature, which, while open to friendly criticism, are excusable. If the author sometimes touches upon the foibles of his betters, he at least has the grace to know that they are his betters."

"I have no plea to make for this fourteenth-century pardoner. He was an impudent vagabond, trafficking in damaged goods. One did not need to be a Lollard in order to see that he was a reprehensible character. Discerning persons in need of relics would go to responsible dealers where they could be assured of getting their money's worth.

This glib-tongued fellow weddling religious articles from door to door lived on the credulity of untraveled country people. He took advantage of their weaknesses. Many a good wife would purchase a pardon she had no need of, simply because he offered it as a bargain. This was all wrong. We all know how the business of indulgence-selling was overdone. There was a general loss of confidence on the part of the purchasing public; ..."

Among contemporary American essayists, Samuel McChord Crothers (1857-1927), a Unitarian clergyman in Cambridge, holds a distinctive place. Marked with a frequent touch of humor and a whimsical fancy, his work is reminiscent of that of Oliver Wendell Holmes. The Gentle Reader (1903), The Pardoner's Wallet (1905), Among Friends (1910), Humanly Speaking (1912), and The Dame School of Experience (1919) are the titles of his most engaging volumes.

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