« Epitaph: a memorial that usually lies about the one below. » — Unknown
Ah, those lovely Peter Pauper Press books! They once were far easier to find*, but time marches on. This one’s a lightly macabre old favourite from 1957, wryly illustrated by long-time New Yorker cartoonist Henry R. Martin.
It is prefaced with this caveat: « The following collection of gravestone inscriptions is hardly a serious historical one. Most of the items are genuine, but many are suspect, and a few are frankly contrived. In some cases genuine inscriptions have been somewhat altered, and the place names are not reliable. Scholars are therefore warned not to find fault; but all men — and also any women who choose — are invited to read further for a little ghoulish amusement. »
-RG
*confirmed — anecdotally, I’ll grant you — by a visit, yesterday, to Maine’s spectacular Big Chicken Barn, where I didn’t stumble onto a single solitary PPP title.
Who's Out There? 
I’d never heard of Peter Pauper Press, but I love the name and I love these samples.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Connor — it’s great to hear from you! Here’s my first post about the PPP — about my first PPP book, naturally! https://whosoutthere.ca/2022/06/24/one-hundred-and-eighty-bitter-years-of-bierce/
The Press is still around, but since the death of both founders (post 1981, in other words), it’s just become a schlock imprint (diaries, date books, calendars, cutesy/mawkish ‘inspirational’ tripe). For that reason, I didn’t even bother to link to their current website.
LikeLike