Fernald Chester — The Gentleman in the Barrel

California Book Club, 1939. First Edition. Soft cover. The Gentleman in the Barrel by Fernald Chester Book Club of California, 1939 part one of six California Tales Series Staplebound in good condition, text is clean and unmarked, binding tight, all staples in place no loose pages or staples. Cover is clean and there is additional insert advertising the Nuremberg Chronicle and showing the results of the drawing for book numbers of the $35 copies and the $25 copies, with winners names. Fernald arrived in San Francisco when he was 20 where he worked as a draughtsman and drifted into newspaper work. In 1893 he was sent to Washington DC by the San Francisco Chronicle and later he traveled to Alaska, Europe and the Orient ending up living in England. This story is from his first book "The Cat and the Cherub, 1895. The book contains stories and sketches of San Francisco's Chinatown of the late 1800's told with wit, artistry and understanding. This story is considers a minor classic of California Literature. Illustrated, 20 pages. Good.