2. The Fake Books of Charles Dickens, Part 1
While many of the lists on this list of records contain some humorous points, no list is sillier than Charles Dickens’ list of fake books. Despite being an author himself, when he moved his family into their new home at Tavistock House in London and found the place short of printed books he decided to have covers for fake books published, rather than buying actual texts from the printer. The bookbinder, Thomas Robert Eeles, must have had quite a bit of fun with the project, especially since several of the titles are quite funny with a couple even being a bit bawdy by the standards of the era.
The irreverent nature of many of the titles is especially odd given Dickens’ propensity for writing rather serious books about poverty and want. It’s a strange leap for the author of Oliver Twist and Bleak House, with their brutal depictions of London’s underclass and the horrible treatment of orphans, to have a display of Toots’ Universal Letter-Writer, which was deserving of two volumes!
Other notable titles, although all of them are fantastic, are Bowwowdowm. A Poem, which this author genuinely hopes was intended to be a tribute to dogs. The Art of Cutting Teeth surely resided in a place of majesty among his shelves, perhaps next to A Christmas Carol. A Tale of Two Cities was also doubtlessly kept company by Paxton’s Bloomers, which were so noteworthy no less than five volumes covered them.