This 1856 (I believe first edition) copy of Merry's Book of Puzzles "by Robert Merry" - a pseudonym for John Newton Stearns--shows its age, but it's a fun one and a scarce one, especially for the page after page of rebus puzzles that fill the first chunk of the book--many of which I have photographed, so good!
Published for Victorian children, it includes 382 puzzles with an answer key in the rear (here with solutions for puzzles only through #202 due to loss of the last couple of pages; I will additionally include a print out with the rest of the solutions, grabbed from a copy Project Gutenberg has made available as an e-book online) In addition to the wonderful rebuses (and a sign language alphabet) are riddles and word puzzles which, in general, it would take a very clever child indeed to solve! (No. 84: Why is green grass like a mouse? A: Because the cattle eat it, and the cat'll eat it.) Here with a plain paper wrap, and then the original front cover inside.
7 1/4" x 5 5/16", 92 pages here (of original 96.) and I believe first edition. Not to be confused with later, related but different Merry's puzzle volumes. Wear and some loss to cover wrap, book itself shows toning, especially to cover and first and last inside pages. As noted, last couple of solutions pages are missing from back of the book, but I will provide a print out of those pages of solutions from an online source.
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