July 29, 1864: New Book of Nonsense

The New Book of Nonsense was published for sale at the Philadelphia Great Central Sanitary Fair, which ran from June 7 to June 29, 1864. It is an imitation of Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense.

  Transcript:

There was an old lady of Venezuela,

So ill that no physician could heal her,

She called her kind “nuss”

“A sleepy old cuss,”

This morbid old lady of Venezuela.

Citation: The new book of nonsense. A contribution to the Great Central Fair in aid of the Sanitary Commission. Philadelphia: Ashmead & Evans, 1864. A 864n