Full and By
The Volstead Act, officially the National Prohibition Enforcement Act, passed in 1919, provided the framework for enforcing the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Regardless of “Dry Agents,” the prohibition agents, trying to enforce the law, organized criminal gangs illegally supplied America’s demand for liquor, making millions and corrupting enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, juries, and politicians.
With its unusual title, Full and By, Being, a Collection of Verses by Persons of Quality in Praise of Drinking, published by Doubleday in 1925, this book covers the joy of alcohol consumption that Prohibition was targeting. A folio-size (30 x 22.5 cm), 153-page book, printed on special rag wove paper, with brown boards, gilt, and top edges gilt is, in fact, a marvelous collection of poems in praise of drink.
In his brief preface, author-journalist-humorist Don Marquis, "(practically) a teetotaler" by his own admission and already on his way to becoming a Prohibitionist, expressed his hopes that the book would have an effect on young people to "stop, look, and listen."
Cover of Full and By
Cover with gilt (gold leaf or gold paint applied in a thin layer to a surface).
The copy of Full and By in the Alcohol Studies Rare Books Collection is a first edition, deluxe, limited issue. A picture of the cover shows that the book is a piece of art with sturdy brown boards, gilt, and top edges gilt.
This is number 102 of 200 copies, according to the edition statement in the book, the illustration of a large bottle with a small devil drinking from it. The label on the bottle says: This edition of Full & By is limited to two hundred copies in a deluxe binding printed on special rag wove paper and signed by Don Marquis/ Christopher Morley/ Cameron Rogers and the illustrator, Edw. A. Wilson.
Edition statement
With signatures from all involved in publishing the book.
Full and by
The tumultuous title page provides a lot of information about the content, style, and approach.
Carefully selected by editor Cameron Rogers with the potential of adding artistic illustrations, these drinking songs and poems were written by famous poets, or, "persons of quality," such as William Blake, Roberts Burns, Lord Byron, G. K. Chesterton, William Makepeace Thackeray, and more.
- Read the full text of Full and By, Being, a Collection of Verses by Persons of Quality in Praise of Drinking from HathiTrust (153 pages)
Merry and bright
A man with his mug of ale appearing merry and bright.
Tom and Jerry
Two drunk men wearing suits and top hats, holding glasses and leaning against a barrel. A small devil stands between their shoulders.
Biting his name in it
A man sitting on a bench, drinking fast from a beer stein while leaning backward.
A few drops of good stuff
Illustration of a group of men seated at a table, drinking, smoking, and having a good time.
Dapper man about town having a drink at the bar
A man in suit and top hat, having a drink at a bar. Caption reads, "Excuse me while I go and have a drink."
Swigging grog
Illustration of five men drinking alcohol. Caption reads, "And all of us swigged it, and swore there was nothing like grog!"
A drunk friar riding a horse backwards
Illustration of a drunk friar riding a horse backwards, chased by a demon holding a pitchfork. Caption reads, "Gluggity, gluggity, glug."
A robust friar and his bottle
Illustration of a friar seated at a table, drinking alcohol. Caption reads, "Yea, Even to Saturation."
A friar with a jug of alcohol behind his back
Illustration of a friar standing on a cloud, facing away from the viewer and holding a jug behind his back. Caption reads, "The Friar."
A friar frolics with Bacchus
Illustration of a drunk friar and Bacchus with their arms around one another's shoulders.