Benjamin D - His Little Dinner by Samuel Beeton first edition 1876

[DISREALI, Benjamin] BEETON, Samuel, DOWTY, Aglen A, JERROLD, Evelyn and others. Benjamin D - His Little Dinner. London, Weldon & Co., Wine Office Court, Fleet Street, [1876].
 
8vo. 76pp plus publisher's advertisement leaves at front and rear. Numerous comic illustrations throughout, including full-page caricatures. Original printed pictorial wrappers and illustrations by "Whew". Original publisher's illustrated wrappers, preserved in notably clean and attractive condition with only light handling wear and minor rubbing to extremities; spine sound and internally fresh. A very good or better copy of an ephemeral Victorian political satire rarely encountered in such condition.
 
An anti-establishment political squib centred upon Benjamin Disraeli. The cover caricature depicts him presiding over a grotesque political dinner table populated by recognisable contemporary statesmen and commentators, while the interior combines comic verse, burlesque dialogue, visual satire and topical parody in the manner of Punch. 
 
These annual political satires were published by Weldon & Co. of Fleet Street and have been variously attributed to Samuel Orchart Beeton, Aglen A. Dowty, and other contributors including Evelyn Jerrold, though precise authorship remains uncertain. Produced as inexpensive seasonal entertainments, such pamphlet-periodicals were heavily read and seldom preserved, particularly in original wrappers.