Tavern Anecdotes and Sayings: Including the Origin of Signs, and Reminiscences Connected with Taverns, Coffee-houses, Clubs, etc.

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139107389

William West (1770–1854) was a bookseller and antiquarian who wrote a series of articles about his experiences in the book trade. In 1825, West published a collection of alehouse jokes, stories and trivia under the pseudonym 'One Of the Old School'. This edition is an expanded version, edited and annotated by popular writer Charles Hindley (d. 1893) and first published in 1875. A boozy, more whimsical cousin to Ambrose Bierce's 1906 The Devil's Dictionary, the book features playful definitions of tavern slang and terminology. In addition to witty stories and puns, there is also a wealth of information about the origins of pub names, the origins of alcohol and its regulation under the law. This is a dry and humorous text which still possesses the power to amuse, but also contains rich detail about contemporary culture and society, including insights on Fleet Street, the military and colonial Britain.

- Aa Reduce text
- Aa Enlarge text

View selected items
Save to my bookmarks
Export citations
Download PDF (zip)
Save to Kindle
Save to Dropbox
Save to Google Drive
Save content to
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to .

To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Please be advised that item(s) you selected are not available.
You are about to save
Your Kindle email address

Please provide your Kindle email.

@free.kindle.com @kindle.com (service fees apply)

By using this service, you agree that you will only keep content for personal use, and will not openly distribute them via Dropbox, Google Drive or other file sharing services

Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE
pp vii-x
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

INTRODUCTION
pp xi-xvi
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

TAVERN ANECDOTES, and REMINISCENCES of THE ORIGIN OF SIGNS, CLUBS, COFFEE-HOUSES, STREETS, CITY COMPANIES, WARDS, &c.
pp xvii-xviii
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

TAVERN ANECDOTES AND SAYINGS
pp 1-414
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Tavern Anecdotes and Sayings

Including the Origin of Signs, and Reminiscences Connected with Taverns, Coffee-houses, Clubs, etc.

Book description

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE
pp vii-x

INTRODUCTION
pp xi-xvi

TAVERN ANECDOTES, and REMINISCENCES of THE ORIGIN OF SIGNS, CLUBS, COFFEE-HOUSES, STREETS, CITY COMPANIES, WARDS, &c.
pp xvii-xviii

TAVERN ANECDOTES AND SAYINGS
pp 1-414

Metrics

Full text views

Book summary page views

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

Accessibility Information

Tavern Anecdotes and Sayings

Including the Origin of Signs, and Reminiscences Connected with Taverns, Coffee-houses, Clubs, etc.

Book description

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Save Search

Contents

Frontmatter pp i-vi

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE pp vii-x

INTRODUCTION pp xi-xvi

TAVERN ANECDOTES, and REMINISCENCES of THE ORIGIN OF SIGNS, CLUBS, COFFEE-HOUSES, STREETS, CITY COMPANIES, WARDS, &c. pp xvii-xviii

TAVERN ANECDOTES AND SAYINGS pp 1-414

Metrics

Full text views

Book summary page views

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

Accessibility Information

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE
pp vii-x

INTRODUCTION
pp xi-xvi

TAVERN ANECDOTES, and REMINISCENCES of THE ORIGIN OF SIGNS, CLUBS, COFFEE-HOUSES, STREETS, CITY COMPANIES, WARDS, &c.
pp xvii-xviii

TAVERN ANECDOTES AND SAYINGS
pp 1-414