Ten Days At Monte Carlo - At The Banks Expence

Ten Days at Monte Carlo – At the Bank’s Expense (1898) by V. B. – William Heinemann

ISBN: None
Condition: Good
Published: 1898
Offered by: Crappy Old Books

There was a time when a gentleman could travel to Monte Carlo with a respectable wardrobe, a modest supply of ready money and the firm conviction that the casino was simply waiting to surrender its accumulated wealth to anyone possessing sufficient intelligence, courage and an infallible system for beating roulette.

The casino, naturally, had other ideas.

Welcome to Ten Days at Monte Carlo – At the Bank’s Expense, published by William Heinemann in 1898 and attributed to the mysterious V. B., an author whose initials provide precisely the degree of anonymity one might appreciate after returning from an expensive encounter with the gaming tables.

The title itself is an irresistible declaration of financial optimism. Ten days in Monte Carlo, enjoying the delights of the French Riviera, apparently at the expense of the very institution whose principal occupation was relieving visitors of their money.

A magnificent proposition, provided the bank had been informed of the arrangement.

By the closing years of the nineteenth century, Monte Carlo had established itself as one of Europe’s most glamorous destinations, attracting aristocrats, wealthy adventurers, professional gamblers and enthusiastic amateurs who believed that mathematical probability was something that happened to other people.

The roulette wheel revolved, fortunes changed hands, champagne flowed, and perfectly respectable visitors occasionally discovered that their holiday budget had been redistributed among the shareholders of the Société des Bains de Mer.

Against this splendidly extravagant background, the prospect of defeating the bank offered an irresistible combination of intellectual challenge, financial temptation and the possibility of returning home with considerably more money than one had brought.

Whether any supposed triumph over the casino represented genuine mathematical brilliance or merely a temporary disagreement with the laws of probability is a question best left to the reader.

This attractive 1898 Heinemann edition possesses a particularly striking original decorative binding, featuring a bold red-and-black diamond pattern reminiscent of playing cards and casino gaming tables. A long-handled gaming implement completes the design, making the book’s subject immediately apparent without requiring anyone to open it.

The result is a wonderfully distinctive piece of late-Victorian publishing, produced when publishers evidently understood that a book about gambling deserved to look rather more adventurous than a volume on agricultural drainage.

Condition: Good. A respectable antiquarian hardback showing the natural signs of age, handling and previous ownership. Its striking illustrated boards retain considerable character after more than 125 years.

Naturally, there is no ISBN. In 1898, gambling establishments and publishers alike managed their affairs without modern electronic identification systems.

Offered by Crappy Old Books, where Victorian optimism is celebrated, improbable financial schemes are treated with affectionate suspicion, and the management makes absolutely no promises concerning your chances of defeating the roulette wheel.

A delightful collectible for enthusiasts of gambling history, Monte Carlo, Victorian travel literature and decorative nineteenth-century bindings.

After all, spending ten days on the Riviera at the bank’s expense sounds wonderful. Persuading the bank to cooperate is quite another matter.

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