In the Monday, 30 March 1925 issue of Time magazine there appeared the following:
THE COMPLETE LIMERICK BOOK— Langford Reed—Putnam ($2.50). In a spirit of scholarly dignity appropriate to so solemn an undertaking, Mr. Reed, himself no idle Limericist, has prepared the compendium that was so sorely needed to preserve, immortal and immaculate, to a pure-minded posterity, all the old men of Tobago, Havana, Copenhagen and Siberia; all the nymphs of Birmingham, Nantucket, Joppa, Australia, Bangor and Iquique. Mr. Reed shows quite clearly, despite the dissenting opinions of the Messrs. Bernard Shaw, Arnold Bennett and Commissioner Booth-Tucker of the Salvation Army, that the best Limericks have never, at any time, depended for their wit upon salaciousness.Herbert Langford Reed published The Complete Limerick Book in December 1924. It was illustrated by Henry Mayo Bateman. The book was an instant best seller and impressions and new editions quickly followed in both London and New York. Reed continually updated the book by revising his introduction and adding more limericks — climbing from “about 350” to “nearly 600.” The explosion of limericks was so rapid that a 1940s paperback dedicated to "the men and women now engaged in defending the British Empire against enemy aggression, both overseas and at home" listed over 300 on the cover and over 420 on the title page, two pages later.
The cover and dust jacket illustrations varied from impression to impression and printing to printing, as you can see, and I suspect that there may be many more variants waiting to be discovered.
First Edition (1st) First Edition (3rd) First Edition (4th) Yellow First Edition (4th) Brown
Second Edition Knickerbocker Press Edition 1940s Yellow 1974 Blue
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with about 350 selected examples.
Langford Reed
London: Jarrolds Publishers, 1924
First Edition First Impression January 1925
147 pp.
Includes an “Errata & Addenda ” inserted sheet before the Introduction
394 limericks
Illustrated by H. M. Bateman
Hard Cover
7.7" X 10.0" tall
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with about 350 selected examples.
Langford Reed
London: Jarrolds Publishers, 1924
First Edition Third Impression December 1924
147 pp.
394 limericks
Illustrated by H. M. Bateman
Hard Cover
7.7" X 10.0" tall
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with about 350 selected examples.
Langford Reed
London: Jarrolds Publishers, 1924
First Edition Fourth Impression January 1925
147 pp.
394 limericks
Illustrated by H. M. Bateman
Hard Cover
7.7" X 10.0" tall
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with about 350 selected examples.
Langford Reed
London: Jarrolds Publishers, 1924
First Edition Fourth Impression January 1925
147 pp.
394 limericks
Illustrated by H. M. Bateman
Hard Cover
7.4" X 9.0" tall
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with nearly 600 Selected Examples.
Langford Reed
London: Jarrolds Publishers
Copyright Langford Reed 1925
Second Edition [Publication date July 1926 or later]
This a different edition than the original First Edition, the copyright date notwithstanding.
200 pp.
594 limericks
Illustrated by H. M. Bateman
Hard Cover
7.4" X 10.1" tall
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with over 400 Selected Examples.
Langford Reed
New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1925
154 pp.
430 limericks
With 24 Illustrations by H. M. Bateman
Hard Cover
7.4" X 9.2" tall
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with over 420 Selected Examples.
Langford Reed
London: Jarrolds Publishers, n.d. [c1940]
Cover reads: The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with over 300 examples many of which are entirely new
124 pp.
409 limericks
Illustrated by H. M. Bateman
Paperback
4.2" X 7.0" tall
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick, with about 350 selected examples.
Langford Reed
London: Jarrolds Publishers
Republished by Gale Research Company, Detroit, 1974
147 pp.
394 limericks
Illustrated by H. M. Bateman
ISBN 0-8103-3974-9
Hard Cover
5.2" X 7.1" tall
The Complete Limerick Book: The Origin, History and Achievements of the Limerick.
Langford Reed
Detroit: Omnigraphics Inc.
December 1996
Hard Cover
ISBN 1558889434Details not available (Existence questionable)
Information about other editions of The Complete Limerick Book, especially
scans of cover, title page, and copyright, is welcomed.
