A modern recreation of a Victorian scrapbook made up of cuttings from books and magazines published in the early to mid nineteenth century. You will come across such delights as the artificial duck that ate, drank and quacked; the tax on bachelors; early attempts at ballooning; the clever cat; horse-racing by machinery; leeches; powdering the hair; early steam carriages. And of course the baboon playing chess with an Emperor. And much, much more. If you enjoy loitering amongst literary and historic trivia, then you will love this book.