SHANDYGAFF by CHRISTOPHER MORLEY 1918 A number of most agreeable Inquirendoes upon Life & Letters, interspersed with Short Stories & Skits, the whole most Diverting to the Reader [Illustration: Photo by Charles H. Davis CHRISTOPHER MORLEY, AUTHOR OF SHANDYGAFF, WHERE THE BLUE BEGINS, THUNDER ON THE LEFT, ETC.] TITLES AND DEDICATIONS I wanted to call these exercises "Casual Ablutions," in memory of the immortal sign in the washroom of the British Museum, but my arbiter of elegance forbade it. You remember that George Gissing, homeless and penniless on London streets, used to enjoy the lavatory of the Museum Reading Room as a fountain and a shrine. But the flinty hearted trustees, finding him using the wash-stand for bath-tub and laundry, were exceeding wroth, and set up the notice +----------------------------+ | | | THESE BASINS ARE FOR | | CASUAL ABLUTIONS ONLY | | | +----------------------------+ I would like to issue the same warning to the implacable reader: these fugitive pieces, very casual rinsings in the great basin of letters, must not be too bitterly resented, even by their publishers. To borrow O. Henry's joke, they are more demitasso than Tasso. The real purpose in writing books is to have the pleasure of dedicating them to someone, and here I am in a quandary. So many dedications have occurred to me, it seems only fair to give them all a chance. I thought of dedicating the book to CLAYTON SEDGWICK COOPER The Laird of Westcolang I thought of dedicating to the TWO BEST BOOK SHOPS IN THE WORLD Blackwell's in Oxford and Leary's in Philadelphia I thought of dedicating to THE 8:13 TRAIN I thought of dedicating to EDWARD PAGE ALLINSON The Squire of Town's End Farm Better known as Mifflin McGill In affectionate memory of Many unseasonable jests I thought of dedicating to PROFESSOR FRANCIS B. GUMMERE From an erring pupil I thought of dedicating to FRANCIS R. BELLAMY Author of "The Balance" Whose Talent I Revere, But Whose Syntax I Deplore I thought of dedicating to JOHN N. BEFFEL My First Editor Who insisted on taking me seriously I thought of dedicating to GUY S.K. WHEELER The Lion Cub I thought of dedicating to ROBERT CORTES HOLLIDAY The Urbanolater I thought of dedicating to SILAS ORRIN HOWES Faithful Servant of Letters But my final and irrevocable decision is to dedicate this book to THE MIEHLE PRINTING PRESS More Sinned Against Than Sinning * * * * *