Q: "I love collecting items about ferrets and I noticed you mentioned an old book about a ferret named Tony. Do you know of some more?" A: No, but I know how to make a 'fmore. Thats two ferrets with a marshmellow between them. The trick is to hang on to 'em as you heat 'em over the fire... Well "ferret" in this case is a late 1800's reference either to thief or to detective and usually the former (I have one where the detective is a reformed thief). There were a whole slew of them printed at the turn of the century, usually as frontier-based dime novels, and running about 20-40 pages. I was given one as a joke, and have since found a couple more in used book stores, and I can't pass them by. Heres a minor list for your enjoyment, or for future ferret names. Burton Egbert Stevenson 1929 "The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet." The Ferret Library; New York. Charles Morris 1889 "White Wing, the Ferret Flyer." Beadle and Adams, Beadles Pocket Library No. 295; New York. Edward L. Wheeler 1880 "Captain Ferret, the New York Detective, or Boss Bob's Job." Beadle and Adams; New York. Edward L. Wheeler 1886 "Tony Fox, the Ferret, or Boss Bob's Boss Job." Neadle and Adams, Beadles Pocket Library No. 127; New York. Edward L. Wheeler 1899 "Tony Fox, the Ferret, or Boss Bob's Boss Job." Westbrooke Co., Deadwood Dick Library No. 33; Cleveland. (Yes, all three are the same story) Edward L. Wheeler 1882 "Sierra Sam, the Frontier Ferret, or A Sister's Devotion." Beadle and Adams, Beadles Half-Dime Library No. 244; New York. Thomas Chalmer Harbaugh 1891 "Sol Sphinx, the Ferret Detective: or, The Seven Secrets. A Romance of the Demon Doctor of Gotham." Beadle and Sons, Beadles New York Dime Library No. 654; New York. Thomas Chalmer Harbaugh 1889 "Silk Hand, the Mohave Ferret: or, The Marked Man of Arizona." Beadle and Sons, Beadles New York Dime Library No. 550; New York. Thomas Chalmer Harbaugh 1891 "Jason Clew, The Silk Handed Ferret; or, the Maze of the Silver Dagger." Beadle and Adams, Beadles New York Dime Library No. 671; New York. Thomas Chalmer Harbaugh 1886 "Father Ferret, the Freisco Shadow: or, the Queen of Bowie Notch. A Romance of Man, Woman and Mystery in Frisco and Gold Camps." Beadle and Adams, Beadles New York Dime Library No. 421; New York. Thomas Chalmer Harbaugh 1890 "Captian Sid, the Shasta Ferret; or, the Rivals of the Sunset. The Romance of Rattlesnake Mine." Beadle and Adams, Beadles New York Dime Library No. 592; New York. Harry Rockwood 1883 "Abner Ferret: The Lawyer Detective." J. S. Ogilvie; New York. And here are some more modern titles in the same vein: Walter Morison 1995 "Flak and Ferret: One Way to Colditz." Sentinal Pub. (WWII History). Gene Kemp 1990/1991/1993 "Just Ferret." Collins Educational/Penguin Carol Hathorne 1995 "Ferret in the Vestry." Monarch Pubs. Douglas Boyd 1997 "The Fiddler and the Ferret." Little Brown. Alison Prince 1997 "Fergus, Fabulous Ferret." Hodder Jeff Gallagher 1995 "Spud Ferret and the Case of the Stolen Diamonds: A One Act Play." Schoolplay Productions. And a bonus for my New Zealander buddies: Ferret. An underground newspaper published by Kozmik Krumbia out of Christchurch. (And would I love a couple of copies, hint, hint.) Now for the rest of the FML. Remember when I did the nicknames? If you send or post book/play/song titles having to do with ferrets or having ferret in the name, I will compile them and post the list like the nicknames. I already have a lot, but there is always one or two missed by almost everyone. Make sure you have 1) Name, 2) Year of Publication, 3) Proper title, 4) Publisher, and 5) Place of publication, or as much as possible. I will also accept publications by people whos last name is Ferret, or movies/television shows having ferrets in them, but get the director's name and year or release *before* you send it in. Bob C and 20 MO Biblioferts [Posted in FML issue 2211]