Merry's Book of Puzzles, 1856, with Many Rebuses (and other fun things) greenwood china The box is missing one

The box is missing one short side as pictured and shows some loss the the niches for the sliding lid

by 1900 the word had entered the Oxford English Dictionary

but Anthony’s fine draftsmanship adds a gentle touch to what might otherwise be plain creepy

Perhaps fodder for some new thing

ultra tolerant

Merry's Book of Puzzles, 1856, with Many Rebuses (and other fun things) greenwood china The box is missing oneThis 1856 (I believe first edition) copy of Merry's Book of Puzzles "by Robert Merry" a pseudonym for John Newton Stearns shows its age, but it's a fun one and a scarce one, especially for the page after page of rebus puzzles that fill the first chunk of the book many of which I have photographed, so good! Published for Victorian children, it includes 382 puzzles with an answer key in the rear (here with solutions for puzzles only through #202 due to