The Ten Little Mullligan Guards

Item Details

New York, New York, McLoughlin Brothers, 1874, Stitched wrappers

First Edition, Fair

New York: McLoughlin Brothers, 1874. Oblong 4to. (9" x 11"), 12 leaves, with 10 chromolithographed plates + front and rear wrappers on stiffer card stock. Appears to be the only edition of this title, with reappearances of the Irish Mulligan Guards and their Black counterparts in other publications by McLoughlin.  Comic images are set to music and lyrics by Wm. A. Pond & Co. , all reflecting late-19th-century stereotypes of Irish immigrants and Blacks. The story unfolds as the Mulligan Guards march along, losing one Guard on each page, until there are none, in Ten Little Indians style. Additionally, the book has instructions on the last leaf for playing "The Game of the Ten Little Mulligans, with chilling illustrations of the participants in hooded white sheets carrying the flag & assorted musical instruments & weapons. Condition is Fair: heavy edgewear, chipping, soiling. Sewn binding has severely loosened, but all pages holding. Wrappers nearly completely detached with outer-lower corners missing on both front & back covers. Very fragile.