Norman Douglas' book Some Limericks, the first bawdy limerick book openly published, appeared in many pirated hard copy editions after it was published by Douglas in 1928. 

Here is a glimpse at a number of the early hard copy editions (almost all purporting to be Douglas' first edition), and at other later editions. 

The first edition includes the phrase "to the pure all things are puer," while some others read "to the pure all things are pure."  It appears that Douglas' pun on "puer" (canine faeces in English;  to stink in French) was redacted to pure/pure in later editions, unknowingly eliminating Douglas' pun on clean/dirty.  Alternatively, "puer" (boy ln Latin) may be a reflection on Douglas' having jumped bail in England on charges of molesting an adolescent boy. 

Another anomaly in the text is the phrase "I would if I could, but I can't" which appears in line five of the limerick about "a young fellow called Grant" and is repeated in the text on the following page, in Douglas' original  as "I would if I could, but I cun't" and in some of the later editions as "I would if I could, but I can't."  This was actually  another typo/pun by Douglas.

 

Editions have been assigned a letter from the phonetic alphabet and roughly follow the scheme used by Cecil Woolf in A Bibliography of Norman Douglas, London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1954.  Woolf lists seven editions A27a - A27g and gives anecdotal reports of several others; Woolf's a-g are designated here as Alpha - Golf.  

Alpha

Bravo

Charlie

Delta

Echo

Foxtrot

Golf

Hotel

India

Juliet

Kilo

Lima

Mike

November

Oscar

Papa

Quebec

Romeo

Sierra

Tango

Uniform

Victor

Whiskey

Xray

Yankee

Zulu

Beta

Gamma

Epsilon

Alpha  [First edition limited issue: Woolf A27a]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo. 100 pp. 11" × 7" (slightly larger than Woolf A27a).    Golden rough linen boards, lettered across upper cover in red: SOME LIMERICKS. White end-papers; top and fore edges unopened, bottom edges uncut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION ‘This Edition is issued to Subscribers only.  It consists of one hundred and ten copies, numbered and signed by the Author, numbers 1-10 being on special paper priced at ten guineas each, and numbers 11-110 at five guineas each.  The price of both sets will be doubled after January 31, 1929.  The type has been distributed. This copy is No. [numbered and signed in ink]’ p. [2]; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘To The Unknown Poet’ p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7]; FLY-TITLE p. [9]; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98-100] blank.

1928 (November)
Privately printed Florence: Pino Orioli (the Publisher of Lady Chatterly's Lover), the Tipografia Giuntina
Page 31 reads "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are puer...”
This issue was (numbers 1-10) published at ten guineas.

           

Images from the National Library of Scotland, Rare Book Collections

Bravo  [Yellow-paper issue of the first edition: Woolf A27b]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo. 100 pp. 10¼" × 6¾".  Golden rough linen boards, lettered across upper cover in red: SOME LIMERICKS. White end-papers; top and fore edges unopened, bottom edges uncut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION ‘This Edition is issued to Subscribers only.  It consists of one hundred and ten copies, numbered and signed by the Author, numbers 1-10 being on special paper priced at ten guineas each, and numbers 11-110 at five guineas each.  The price of both sets will be doubled after January 31, 1929.  The type has been distributed. This copy is No. [numbered and signed in ink]’ p. [2]; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘To The Unknown Poet’ p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7]; FLY-TITLE p. [9]; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98-100] blank.

1928 (November)
Privately printed Florence: Pino Orioli (the Publisher of Lady Chatterly's Lover), the Tipografia Giuntina
Page 31 reads "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are puer...”
This issue was (numbers 11-110) published at five guineas.

       

Charlie  [Second Continental edition (1929):   Woolf A27c]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Large royal octavo. 100 pp. 9¾" × 6¾".  Grey coarse cloth boards.  Lettered in red across the upper cover: SOME LIMERICKS (in two lines).  Spine lettered across in red: SOME LIMERICKS. White end-papers; top edges stained yellow, fore edges rough-trimmed and bottom edges uncut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION ‘This edition is limited to one thousand copies.  The type has been distributed.  This is number [machine-numbered on short parallel rules] Printed in Germany, p. [2] ; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION, ‘To The Unknown Poet p. [5]; CONTENTS P. [7]; FLY-TITLE p. [9]; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98-100] blank.

1929

Contents p. [7]  has no ligatures

Limitation:  This edition is limited to one thousand copies.  The type has been distributed. This is number       (machine numbered in cross hatched rectangle)

Quotation marks replaced by «  »  
Signature, i.e. printer's symbol, 8 point numeral/numeral*  on pp. 11, 25, 27, 41, 57,  59.
Page 31 reads "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are puer...”

[Legman, who had seen the book but never the title page, attributed it to Paris.  Others credit Oscar Brandstettter in Paris or Leipzig.  Probably New York by Jack Brussel (who used it 35 years later for his openly printed Le Ballet des Muses edition)]

      

Delta  [Third Continental edition (1939):  Woolf   A27d]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Large post octavo. 120 pp. 8¼" × 5½".  Gold vermiculated paper boards, with flat back; all edges cut. Light grey paper jacket printed in blue.   Robert Kohler collection contains a copy with a red leather binding.

Pp. [1, 2] pasted down to form end-paper; pp. [3, 4] blank; HALF-TITLE p. [5]; LIMITATION This integral edition, printed for and with the licence of the author, is complete and unexpurgated, and limited to one thousand copies. This is number [machine-numbered on parallel lines] PRINTED IN FRANCE p. [6] ; TITLE P. [7]; DEDICATION ‘To the Unknown Poet p. [9] ; CONTENTS p. [11]; FLY-TITLE p. [13]; INTRODUCTION pp. 15-31; FLY-TITLE p. [33 ] ; TEXT pp. 35-107; FLY-TITLE p. [109]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 111-116; p. [117] blank; IMPRINT ‘Georges Frére Tourcoing p. [118]; pp. [119, 120] pasted down to form end-paper.

1939
This edition was issued by Les Editions du Chêne in their Obelisk Press series in Paris in 1939, at 130 francs. 
Page 49 reads "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 94 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...” 

  

Echo  [Fourth Continental edition (1942 [1951]):   Woolf   A27e]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendourd'd (sic) with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

SOME LIMERICKS | Collected for the use of Students, | & ensplendourd'd [sic] with Introduction, | Geographical Index, and with Notes | Explanatory and Critical

Crown octavo. 120 pp. 8¼" × 5½".  Light grey stiff paper wrappers, pasted down; all edges cut flush with wrappers.  Buff paper jacket printed in black, on front: Poems; on spine: Poems [at foot] 1942.

Pp. [I-4] blank; HALF-TITLE p. [5]; TITLE p. [7]; “COPYRIGHT” Copyright, 1928 By Hutchinson & Poole Printed in the U.S.A. p. [8]; DEDICATION To The Unknown Poet p. [9]; CONTENTS p. [11]; FLY- TITI.F p. [13] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 15-31, FLY-TITLE p. [33]; TEXT pp. 35-107; FLY-TITLE p. [109]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 111-117; LIMITATION and “IMPRINT” One thousand copies of this edition were printed by The Brownbent Press Boston, Mass. Copy No. [machine-numbered] p. [118]; pp. [119, 120] blank.

1942 [1951]
Page 41 reads: "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 84 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...”

Title page: Nicholson and Whitney (nonexistant company)

Copyright page: Hutchinson & Poole (nonexistant company)

Woolf notes that "Recently copies have been appearing with a variant paper jacket. Pasted on the front is a grey paper label (measuring 2¾" X 1¾") printed in black: Some Limericks."

In addition to the copies described by Woolf, a number of reimpressions with a wide variety of wrappers are in circulation.  There is no way of knowing which of these, including the edition described by Woolf, is actually the original printing and which are reimpressions.  The third and fourth editions below differ only in their numbering format.   Robert Kohler collection contains a copy with a leather binding.

There is one hard cover impression of this edition printed on high quality paper with a bound bookmark of green-red-orange ribbon.   It is unknown whether this impression was the first, last, or an intermediate printing. 

Foxtrot  [The first American edition (1928)  Woolf A27f]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo. 100 pp. 9½" × 6½".   Brown rough linen boards, upper cover lettered across in brown ink: SOME LIMERICKS. Lettered along the spine in brown ink: NORMAN DOUGLAS: SOME LIMERICKS.  Cream end-papers; top edges cut, fore and bottom edges rough-trimmed.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION This book is issued to Subscribers only. It is not for sale.  The edition consists of seven hundred and fifty numbered copies, of which three hundred and fifty are for English and four hundred for American collectors.  The type has been distributed.  This copy is number [numbered in ink] p. [2] ; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘To the Unknown Poet p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98—100] blank.

Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...” 
Contents p. [7]  has Introduction  written with the ligature  —  ligatures are found throughout limericks and text
[Printed in New York by Guy D'Isere for David Moss of the Gotham Book Mart., 1928.]

Golf  [Second American edition (1928 [1931]: Woolf A27g]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo.  96 pp.  9¹/₁₆" × 6".  Orange cloth boards.  Upper cover lettered across in black* Old English type: Some Limericks.  Lettered down the flat spine: NORMAN DOUGLAS : SOME LIMERICKS.  White (wove) end-papers; top edges stained green, fore and bottom edges cut.

 

HALF-TITLE p. [I]; LIMITATION This book is issued to Subscribers only. It is not for sale.  The Edittion [sic] consists of seven hundred and fifty numbered copies of which three hundred and fifty are for English and four hundred for American collectors.  The type has been distributed.  This is copy Number … p. [2]; TITLE p. [3] ; DEDICATION To the Unknown Poet p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-95, [96].

*  Copy pictured below has gilt lettering on spine and cover.

Contents p. [7]  has no ligatures

Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...” 

This edition is one page shorter than other editions.  The five page Geographical Index has been reduced to four pages by printing more lines per page.

This edition was published in Philadelphia by Nathan Young and William Sterling in 1931. It is a smaller and uglier volume than the other editions, smearily printed on yellow-tinted glazed laid paper.

Hotel  [The first American printing - reimpression (1928) [c1930]]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo. 100 pp. 9½" × 6½".    Bound in hard-finish tan buckram, upper cover lettered across in brown ink: SOME LIMERICKS. Lettered along the spine in brown ink: NORMAN DOUGLAS: SOME LIMERICKS.  Heavy cream laid stock (with wire and chain lines forming tiny squares).  Cream end-papers; top edges cut, fore and bottom edges rough-trimmed.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION This book is issued to Subscribers only. It is not for sale.  The edition consists of seven hundred and fifty numbered copies, of which three hundred and fifty are for English and four hundred for American collectors. The type has been distributed.  [numbered in ink] p. [2] ; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘To the Unknown Poet p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-96, [97]; pp. [98—100] blank.

Described by Woolf in text following A27f.

Addition of four preliminary and two supplementary leaves to Woolf A27f

[Printed in Chicago by Guy D'Isere for David Moss of the Gotham Book Mart., 1928.]

India  [Second Continental edition - reimpression (1929) Soft Cover]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

100 pp. 10.2" × 69".  Dark blue cardboard covers, no lettering on cover or spine. Top and fore uncut, bottom edges rough cut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION ‘This edition is limited to one thousand copies.  The type has been distributed.  This is number [hand numbered on short parallel rules] Printed in Germany, p. [2] ; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION, ‘To The Unknown Poet p. [5]; CONTENTS P. [7]; FLY-TITLE p. [9]; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98-100] blank.

Contents p. [7]  has no ligatures

Quotation marks replaced by «  »  
Signature, i.e., printer's symbol, 8 point numeral/numeral*  on pp. 11, 25, 27, 41, 43, 57,  59.
Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are puer...” 
This edition is a reimpression of Charlie[Second Continental edition (1929):   Woolf A27c]
[Legman, who had never seen this book, attributed the first impression to Paris. Others credit Oscar Brandstettter in Paris or Leipzig. Probably New York by Jack Brussel (who used it 35 years later for his openly printed Le Ballet des Muses edition)]

Juliet   [The first American printing - second reimpression (1940)] 

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo. 100 pp. 9½" × 6½".   Light grey cloth.  White wove paper.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION This book is issued to Subscribers only. It is not for sale.  The edition consists of seven hundred and fifty numbered copies, of which three hundred and fifty are for English and four hundred for American collectors.  The type has been distributed.  This copy is number [numbered in ink] p. [2] ; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘To the Unknown Poet p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98—100] blank.

About 1200 copies
Described by Woolf in text following A27f.
Possibly with addition of four preliminary and two supplementary leaves to Woolf A27f
Printed in New York after the death of Guy D'Isere for David Moss, 1940.
Woolf reports the copies were seized and the publisher was sent to prison.

Kilo

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo. 100 pp. 9.9" × 6/6".    Bound in hard-finish tan buckram, upper cover lettered across in gilt: SOME LIMERICKS. Lettered along the spine in gilt: NORMAN DOUGLAS: SOME LIMERICKS.  Heavy cream laid stock (with wire and chain lines forming tiny squares).  Cream end-papers; bottom edges cut, fore and top edges rough-trimmed.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION This book is issued to Subscribers only. It is not for sale.  The edition consists of seven hundred and fifty numbered copies, of which three hundred and fifty are for English and four hundred for American collectors.  The type has been distributed.  This copy is Number _____ (left blank)  p. [2] ; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘TO THE UNKNOWN POETt p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-96, [97]; pp. [98—100] blank.

[1929]
Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...” 
Contents p. [7]  has no ligatures

This edition is almost identical to Hotel  [The first American printing - reimpression] except for cover printing and page cuts.
[Ben Abramson, Argus Book Shop, Chicago. c1929.]

Lima

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo. 102 pp. 9.8" × 6.5".   Ecru boards. Lettered along the spine in black ink: NORMAN DOUGLAS: SOME LIMERICKS.  Top, fore, and bottom edges cut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘TO THE UNKNOWN POET p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98—102] blank.

1928 [c1930]
Contents p. [7]  has Introduction  written with the ligature  —  ligatures are found throughout limericks and text
No limitation page
Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...” 
[Reprinted from David Moss plates without limitation page; body of text is identical to Moss edition on same size paper.
Probably Sam Roth c1930.]

Mike

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Medium octavo. 102 pp. 9.5" × 6.6".   Bound in yellow fabric. One inch paper label near top of spine: SOME LIMERICKS . Top, fore, and bottom edges cut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘TO THE UNKNOWN POET p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98—102] blank.

6.6" X 9.5" tall
97 pp.
1928 [c1930]
No limitation page
Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...” 
Contents p. [7]  has Introduction  written with the ligature  —  ligatures are found throughout limericks and text
[Printed by Sam Roth using Moss #2 plates]

November

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Listing by Berkelouw Books, Los Angeles at $3750.

Book Description: (New York): Privately Printed, 1928. Roy.8vo. Orig. cloth. (98pp.). With 66 orig. full-page col. pen-ink and crayon erotic drawings. Lim. ed. No.621 of 750 copies. NOTE: A unique one-of-a-kind copy which has 66 original hand-colored pen-ink and crayon full-page erotic drawings. These particular explicate (sic) sexually active humorous drawings were executed before the printer printed the text and consequently the letter press is laid-down on top of these erotic drawings by an unknown competent artist. Included is an identical limited edition copy of the same book, not illustrated.

Oscar

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

100 pp. 9.4" × 5.4". Bound in red imitation leather, upper cover embossed: SOME LIMERICKS. Lettered along the spine in silver: SOME LIMERICKS.  Bottom, fore and top edges cut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION This book is limited to one thousand copies. The type has been distributed.  This is number [short parallel rules (left blank)]  p. [2] ; TITLE p. [3]; CONTENTS p. [5] ; FLY-TITLE p. [7]; no pages 9-10 ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; FLY-TITLE p. [91]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 93-97; pp. [98—100] blank.

1939
No Copyright
Contents p. [7]  has no ligatures
Quotation marks replaced by «  » 
Signature, i.e.,printer's symbol, 8 point numeral/numeral*  on pp. 11, 27, 43, 57.
Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are puer...” 

Papa

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

7.75" X 9.75" tall
97 pp.
1939
Gold colored Binding
Off white dust jacket
DJ spine: SOME LIMERICKS NORMAN DOUGLAS PRIVATELY PRINTED (blue)
DJ cover: SOME LIMERICKS NORMAN DOUGLAS PRIVATELY PRINTED (blue)
Printed in France
Limitation 1000 copies
No Copyright

Quebec

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

22 cm. (8.7")
116 pp.  (Legman reports 118 pp. — 117 and 118 may be unnumbered.)
Privately Printed 1939

Limitation p. 6  This integral edition, printed for and with the license of the author, is complete and unexpurgated, and limited to one thousand copies.  This is number [machine-numbered].  Printed in France.

Colophon p. 118  Georges Frère, Tourcoing.
Page 84 typo:  “...to the pure all things are puer...”
Paris, Obelisk Press by  Jack Kahane?
WorldCat reports this edition at 5 libraries worldwide

Romeo  Collection “Le Ballet Des Muses”  [Soft Cover]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

96 pp. 6.0" × 5.1".    Paperback. Cover: Norman Douglas Some Limericks  Top, fore, and bottom edges cut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION ‘TO THE UNKNOWN POET' p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-22; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-89; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. [91-95; p. [96] blank.

1964

Collection “LE BALLET DES MUSES” 1964
89 + [6] pp.
Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 67 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...”
Page 68 and 86 are blank, omitting  “There was a young fellow called Carey,” and “Thus spake I AM THAT I AM”
Contents p. [7]  does not have Introduction  written with the ligature  —  but ligatures are found throughout the text
Naughty words appear with one or more letters replaced by spaces or are omitted altogether
Jack Brussels, who had printed a pirated edition 35 years earlier
L.&M. Kotkofsky  in small print within cover art

Sierra  Black Circle [Hard Cover]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

96 pp. 8.5" × 5.0".     Bound in purple cloth. Lettered along the spine in black ink: SOME LIMERICKS  DOUGLAS  GROVE PRESS. Paper dust jacket. Top, fore, and bottom edges cut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; TITLE p. [3]; COPYRIGHT "Copyright ©1967 Grove Press All rights reserved" p. [4]; DEDICATION ‘TO THE UNKNOWN POET' p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-20; FLY-TITLE p. [21]; TEXT pp. 23-87; FLY-TITLE p. [89]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. [91-94; pp. [95-96] blank.

5" X  8.5" tall
94 pp.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-23965
Grove Press, Inc.
1967
Page 29 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 65 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...”
Frequently listed (erroneously) as There Was an Old Man of Corfu
Geographical Index page numbers are one short of  actual page — corrected in soft cover edition

Tango  Anthony Blond  [Hard Cover]

The Norman Douglas Limerick Book: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

96 pp. 8.8" × 5.7".     Bound in green cloth. Lettered along the spine in red ink: THE NORMAN DOUGLAS LIMERICK BOOK BLOND. Paper dust jacket. Grey end-papersTop, fore, and bottom edges cut.

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; TITLE p. [3]; COPYRIGHT "© 1967 Grove Press Inc." p. [4]; DEDICATION "TO THE UNKNOWN POET"  p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-20; FLY-TITLE p. [21]; TEXT pp. 23-87; FLY-TITLE p. [89]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. [91-94; pp. [95-96] blank.

5.7" X 8.8" tall
94 pp.
Grove Press Inc. 1967
First published in Great Britain in 1969 by Anthony Blond Limited
ISBN 218515840
Page 29 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 65 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...”

Uniform  Black Circle [Soft Cover]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

96 pp. 7.0" × 4.2".     Soft cover. Cover: Some Limericks by Norman Douglas.  Lettered along the spine in black ink and blue ink: SOME LIMERICKS [black]  BY NORMAN DOUGLAS [blue] Z-1019 GROVE PRESS [black]. Top, fore, and bottom edges cut.

EXTRACT FROM INTRODUCTION p. [1]; TITLE p. [2]; COPYRIGHT "Copyright ©1967 Grove Press, Inc. All rights reserved" p. [4]; DEDICATION ‘TO THE UNKNOWN POET' p. [5]; CONTENTS p. [7] ; FLY-TITLE p. [9] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-20; FLY-TITLE p. [21]; TEXT pp. 23-87; FLY-TITLE p. [89]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 91-94; pp. [95-96] blank.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-23965
A Black Circle Book now in paperback
First Evergreen Black Cat Edition 1968
Zebra Books
Grove Press, Inc.
Frequently listed (erroneously) as There Was an Old Man of Corfu
Page 29 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 65 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...”

Victor  Collectors Publications [Soft Cover]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

144 pp. 7.0" × 4.2".     Soft cover. Cover: SOME LIMERICKS COMPLETE & UNEXPURGATED FIRST AMERICAN PRINTING. Lettered along the spine in black ink: SOME LIMERICKS a collectors publication. Top, fore, and bottom edges cut.

TITLE p. [1]; COPYRIGHT "Copyright MCMLXVIII by Collectors Publications All Rights Including Motion Picture Rights Reserved under International, Pan-American and Universal Copyright Conventions." p. [2]; CONTENTS p. [3] ; INTRODUCTION pp. 5-21; FLY-TITLE p. [23]; TEXT pp. 25-97; FLY-TITLE p. [99]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 101-107; advertisements pp. [108-144].

4.2" X 6.3" tall
107 pp.
First printing November 1968
Page 31 reads: "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 74 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...”
Geographical Index copied verbatim from the 1942-1960 soft cover editions (117 pp.) without adjusting for reduced number of pages.

Whiskey  Margaret Maria Coughlan [eBook]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

54 pp.      E-book in Portable Document Format (pdf). Cover: SOME LIMERICKS (blue) Norman Douglas (red) at top. Sexually explicit drawing.  MARGARET MARIA COUGLAN MADE THIS (blue) EXQUISITE ENIGMA (red) at bottom.

COVER p. [1]; PREFACE p. [2]; DEDICATION ‘To The Unknown Poet’ p. [3]; INTRODUCTION pp. 3-11; TEXT pp. 12-54.

Geographical Index not included.
Arranged and published by Margaret Maria Coughlan
Numerous typographical errors
E-book publisher's comment: "The copy I made, mistakes and all, was taken from the original manuscript that is in the possession of Olympia Press."
Page 16 reads: "I would if I could but I can't"
Page 40 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...” 

Xray  The Cypher Press

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

112 pp.      Hard cover hand-sewn and hand-cased

HALF-TITLE p. [1]; LIMITATION "First Published 1929. This edition on large paper is limited to twenty copies, 1 November 1995." [p. 2];  TITLE p. [3]; DEDICATION, ‘To The Unknown Poet p. [5]; CONTENTS P. [7]; FLY-TITLE p. [9]; INTRODUCTION pp. 11-26; FLY-TITLE p. [27]; TEXT pp. 29-100; FLY-TITLE p. [101]; GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX pp. 103-107; List of Cypher books pp. 108-109.

Portable Document Format (pdf) on line at  http://www.cypherpress.co.uk/books/somelimericks.pdf
Limericks in larger font than  text.
Page 35 reads: "I would if I could but I cun't"
Page 77 reads:  “...to the pure all things are pure...” 
Contents p. [7]  has Introduction  written with the ligature  —  ligatures are found throughout limericks and text

Yankee   [Soft Cover]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Typescript. Quarto. Ribbon copy typed in black and red, ribbon tied into attractive hand-decorated wrappers. Naughty limericks with amusing pseudo-scholarly commentary. [A]lmost certainly for U.S. Consumption. 

    Images from on line book seller

 
 Zulu     Atlas Press  [Soft Cover]

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

Release date 08 October 2009.

 
  Beta   

Certi limerick

Allesandra Carola  Ed. 1990

Italian

 
  Gamma

Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical

1993 Reprint of Echo  [Fourth Continental edition (1942 [1951]):   Woolf   A27e]

Three special copies finely bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe for London bookseller E. Joseph (stamp-signed to upper turn-in) of a total edition of fifty; exceedingly scarce thus. Octavo (9 1/16 x 5 3/8 in; 231 x 137 mm). 117, [1], [6, blank] pp.

Full dark blue Chieftain goatskin. Five pointillé tooled raised bands, six gilt ruled compartments. Gilt rolled edges. Single gilt fillet. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Hand sewn silk head and tail bands.

A scarce, beautifully bound, anonymously published facsimile of the 1942 reprint of the self-published in Florence and limited edition of 1928, the first collection of bawdy and scatological limericks to be openly published; a classic. One other of these three specially bound copies is in the spectacular Robert Kohler collection of Douglas. It is unknown who issued this edition; per the anonymous colophon, the other forty-seven copies were bound by the now defunct Stone Mountain Bindery outside of Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.

                                                 Images from on line book seller

 
  Epsilon

[BOUND TYPESCRIPT ANTHOLOGY OF LEWD LYRICS.

Includes a complete copy of Norman Douglas' Some Limericks: Collected for the use of Students, & ensplendour’d with Introduction, Geographical Index, and with Notes Explanatory and Critical (1928);  plus an addendum (“personally collected from a multitude of odd persons, yes, very”) of nearly 200 further examples of lewd lyrics, mostly limericks, collected by Ralph E. Ladd, including commentary and at least several apparently original compositions]. (Boston): 1936.

Hand-bound in stiff card wraps with cloth spine; 92pp. + 170pp. Typed text with occasional ink corrections, revisions, and additions; two 3"x5" cards with additional verses laid in. Signed "Ralph E. Ladd" at conclusion of first portion; dated "1936" on title page.

In addition to a full and complete, hand-typed copy of Norman Douglas's notorious (and much pirated, as here) sub-rosa anthology, the compiler has added nearly 200 items of his own discovery, including a number apparently of his own authorship (one notes: “A poor thing, but myown”), or at least with extensive corrections and revisions by him. Some of these individual lyrics are followed by Ladd's added commentary (in the style of Douglas' famed commentary), with Ladd successfully capturing the slightly satiric and pseudo-academic nature of his predecessor's. 

A laid-in envelope addressed to him (postmarked 1942) identifies Ladd as an instructor in History at Harvard; a 1950 issue of "The Tech" (student newspaper of M.I.T.) lists him as a member of that institution's English faculty.  Many – if not most – of these Ladd-gathered verses are apparently unpublished.  A meaningful contribution to both the study of the limerick and of erotic literature. A considerable history and repository of the form, one worthy of preservation and further investigation. And (it must be admitted) a highly entertaining read.

Descriptions based in part on an article by C. J. Scheiner in The Pentatette and on
Cecil Woolf's A Bibliography of Norman Douglas, London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1954.

(all scans are of the Deex Collection unless otherwise noted)

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