CHILDREN OF OL’ MAN RIVER BY BILLY BRYANT

1988, THE LAKESIDE CLASSICS SERIES

 SHOW BOAT AND GEORGE M. COHAN The Life and Times of a Showboat Trouper.

Edited by Martin Ridge. Chicago, Illinois: R. R. Donnelley & Sons, Christmas 1988. The Lakeside Press.

Hard boards covered in black cloth. 360 pages. Gilt top edge. Title page printed in black and red. Black and white illustrations. Index. List of Lakeside Classics titles. Dimensions: height of nearly 7 inches by width of 4.5 inches.

Condition: Like New.   Unwrapped but never read.

 This historical volume is a valuable primary resource on the life of the Bryants, a family of vaudeville entertainers who built and performed upon a Show Boat that sailed on the Mississippi River. It was written by Billy Bryant, one of the Famous Four Bryants. The Broadway musical theater star George M. Cohan appears repeatedly in these reminiscences.

The Lakeside Classics are reprints of fascinating first-person accounts in American history. These special books were not issued for sale. Rather, Donnelley printed a particular title each year and distributed it to customers as a holiday gift.

I have listed other titles from this series, so please watch for them. Books in this series are of particular interest to scholars and students of American history who seek contemporary narratives.