An Informal History of Gambling in America from the Colonies to Canfield
 
Herbert Asbury. 
 
Dodd, Mead, & Co: 1938. First edition. Harcover. Octavo. Chipping along the boards and the crown and heel of the spine. Words on the spine faded. A couple of stains on the edges. Some spotting on the endpapers. Leaves are tanned by time but mostly clean. Some soiling on the pages with photographs throughout the book. Old stamp on the last free endpaper. 493 pages. Good. 
 
Asbury reported on American underworlds. Everyone was interested, no one was as thorough. He had the stomach to not look away from its gore and the panache to see its glory. If you love the funk of old weird America, a feast of information is here. 
 
"'Why, it was nothing but gamble from the time the boat left St. Louis till it reached New Orleans. I've seen a Faro game, three Poker games, and Monte running in the cabin, and the deck-hands playing Chuck-a-Luck. Sometimes there'd be a kick and the captain would get hot. When a passenger would squeal the captain would ask him to pick out the man who robbed him, and the gambler, if nabbed, would have to give up the stuff and get off the boat anywhere the captain chose to run her in. The boys used to have false whiskers and wigs for these occassions, so that when the kick was made they couldn't be picked out under their disguises.'"