From the dust jacket:
Here, under one cover, are collected the wittiest, the gayest, the most uproariously funny of Gilbert's works. All are here- The Bab Ballads (with Gilbert's inimitable caricatures), The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, and The Pirates of Penzance.
How fresh and new they are still, these humorously paradoxical rhymes. It seems almost unbelievable that they could have come out of the dull stodginess of the Victorian Era. But whenever they were written, wherever they were written, Gilbert's rollicking verses can even today set people capering carelessly to their dancing rhythms.
No doubt there is much more "serious" literature than these playful comedies, But, as a wise head once said, it is far better to throw overboard loads of learned lumber than to deny brain-space to the captivating nonsense which Gilbert gave to the world as his immortal legacy.
Here is a book for pure undiluted pleasure. It is truly a book with a laugh in every line. Again and yet again you will enjoy Gilbert's fantastic humor, and his insouciant witticisms. Almost before you know it, you will be singing, humming, whistling, some of the marvelous tunes which are "as well known as 'Sweet Adeline' but better for mixed company!" You will never get enough of Gilbert, the most lavishly humorous comedies ever written.
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