The Online Books Page

African American wit and humor

Here are entered works on wit and humor written by African Americans. For works on the caricature of Black people, generally by non-Black people, through the use of makeup, mannerisms, speech patterns, etc. are entered under Blackface.

See also what's at your library, or elsewhere.

• American wit and humor

• Afro-American wit and humor
• Black humor (African American humor)
• Negro wit and humor
• Wit and humor, African American

• The Black Cat Club: Negro Humor and Folk-Lore (New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls, 1902), by James David Corrothers, illust. by J. K. Bryans (page images at HathiTrust)

Items below (if any) are from related and broader terms.

• Benchley Beside Himself (without illustrations; New York and London: Harper and Bros., c1943), by Robert Benchley (HTML in Canada; NO US ACCESS)
• Among the Humorists and After Dinner Speakers: A New Collection of Humorous Stories and Anecdotes (3 volumes; New York: P. F. Collier and Son, c1909), ed. by William Patten
  • Volume I: multiple formats at archive.org
  • Volume I: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume II: multiple formats at archive.org
  • Volume III: multiple formats at archive.org
• The Bad Boy at Home, and His Experiences in Trying to Become an Editor (New York: J. S. Ogilvie, c1885), by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor
  • Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • page images at HathiTrust
• Billy Baxter's Letters, by William J. Kountz (Gutenberg text)
• Bizarre (New York: Lieber and Lewis, 1922), by Lawton Mackall, illust. by Lauren Stout (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)
• Black Jokes, for "Blue Devils" (New York: H. J. Wehman, 1897), by Henry J. Wehman
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at HathiTrust
• Breaking into Society (New York and London: Harper and Bros., 1904), by George Ade (illustrated HTML and page images at Indiana)
• Brudder Bones' "4-11-44" Joker: Containing a Jolly Lot of Sable Conundrums, Ethiopian Jokes, Burnt Cork Comicalities and Darkey Dialogues (New York: H. J. Wehman, 1897), by Henry J. Wehman
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at HathiTrust
• The Crockett Almanacks: Nashville Series, 1835-1838 (includes text of 4 almanacs, some of which claimed Crockett as author; Chicago: Caxton Club, 1955), ed. by Franklin J. Meine, contrib. by Harry J. Owens and Davy Crockett (page images at HathiTrust)
• Distressing Dialogues (published as by Millay's "Nancy Boyd" persona; New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1924), by Edna St. Vincent Millay
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at HathiTrust; US access only
• Everybody's Friend: or, Josh Billing's Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor (Hartford: American Pub. Co., 1874), by Josh Billings, illust. by Thomas Nast (page images at HathiTrust)
• Facetia Americana: Fireside Conversation; A French Crisis; Little Willie; The Old Backhouse (Louisville, KY: Privately printed for subscribers only, 1925), ed. by F. D. Vanover, contrib. by Mark Twain, Eugene Field, and James Whitcomb Riley (PDF and HTML at horntip.com)
• Fun-Jottings, or, Laughs I Have Taken A Pen To, by Nathaniel Parker Willis (HTML and page images at Virginia)
• Grimm Tales Made Gay (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1902), by Guy Wetmore Carryl, illust. by Albert Levering (Gutenberg text, illustrated HTML, and page images)
• Hermione and Her Little Group of Serious Thinkers, by Don Marquis (Gutenberg text)
• How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers (San Francisco and New York: P. Elder and Co., c1907), by Robert Williams Wood
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • illustrated HTML at Gutenberg
• How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers, and Other Wood-Cuts (New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., c1917), by Robert Williams Wood
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at childrensbooksonline.org
• The Illiterate Digest (New York; A. and C. Boni, 1924), by Will Rogers, illust. by Nate Collier
  • multiple formats at Google
  • page images at HathiTrust
• Josh Billings, Hiz Sayings (New York: Carleton, 1866), by Josh Billings
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • HTML at Northwestern
• Kings of the Platform and Pulpit (Chicago et al.: The Werner Co., 1896), by Melville D. Landon (page images at HathiTrust)
• Knitting-Work: A Web of Many Textures, Wrought by Ruth Partington, by B. P. Shillaber (HTML and page images at Virginia)
• The Limerick Up to Date Book (San Francisco: P. Elder and Co., 1903), by Ethel Watts Mumford Grant, illust. by Ethel Watts Mumford Grant and Addison Mizner (page images at HathiTrust)
• Love Conquers All, by Robert Benchley, illust. by Gluyas Williams (Gutenberg text, illustrated HTML, and audio)
• Love Conquers All (New York: H. Holt and Co., 1922), by Robert Benchley, illust. by Gluyas Williams (page images at HathiTrust)
• Men I'm Not Married To; Women I'm Not Married To (two works in 1 volume; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1922), by Dorothy Parker and Franklin P. Adams
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • Gutenberg text
  • page images at HathiTrust; US access only
• The Minstrel Guide and Joke Book (Baltimore: I. and M. Ottenhiemer, c1912), ed. by Paul E. Lowe (page images at HathiTrust)
• Mother's Geese: A New Brood (New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1906), by George Barr Baker, George C. Chappell, and Oliver Herford, illust. by T. Gilbert White (illustrated HTML with commentary at elfinspell.com)
• My Thirty Years Out of the Senate, by Major Jack Downing (Philadelphia: A. Hart, 1852), by Seba Smith (HTML and page images at Virginia)
• The Onion (original humor articles from 1996 onward) (partial serial archives)
• Peeps at People: Being Certain Papers From the Writings of Anne Warrington Witherup (New York and London: Harper and Bros., 1899), by John Kendrick Bangs, illust. by Edward Penfield (Gutenberg text)
• Remarks, by Bill Nye (Gutenberg text)
• Single Blessedness, and Other Observations (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1922), by George Ade (HTML and page images at Indiana)
• Stealthy Steve, The Six-Eyed Sleuth: His Quest of the Big Blue Diamond, A Satirical Detective Story (Boston: J. W. Luce, 1904), by Newton Newkirk (page images at HathiTrust)
• They All Do It: or, Mr. Miggs of Danbury and His Neighbors (Boston: Lee and Shepard, c1877), by James M. Bailey (multiple formats at archive.org)
• Through Missouri on a Mule (Chicago, T. W. Jackson, c1904), by Thomas William Jackson, illust. by M. A. Bowles (page images at HathiTrust)
• True Bills (New York and London: Harper and Bros., 1904), by George Ade (`illustrated HTML and page images at Indiana)
• Uncle Josh's Punkin Centre Stories, by Cal Stewart (Gutenberg text)
• Up-to-Date Minstrel Jokes: A Collection of the Latest and Most Popular Jokes, Talks, Stump-Speeches, Conundrums and Monologues for Amateur Minstrels, Many of Which Have Never Before Appeared in Print; Also, a Special Department of Female Minstrel Jokes (with 4 appended farces; Boston: Up-to-Date Pub. Co., c1902), ed. by Herman Henry Wheeler, contrib. by George H. Coes (page images at HathiTrust)
• Who Was Who 5000 B.C. to Date: Biographical Dictionary of the Famous and Those Who Wanted to Be, ed. by Irwin Leslie Gordon (Gutenberg text)
• The Wit and Humor of America (10 volumes), ed. by Marshall P. Wilder
  • Volume I: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume II: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume III: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume IV: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume V: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume VI: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume VII: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume VIII: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume IX: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • Volume X: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
• The Young Immigrunts (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., c1920), by Ring Lardner, illust. by Gaar Williams (page images at HathiTrust)
• Naming Day in the Garden of Eden (Seattle: University of Washington Book Store, 1930), by Edward Godfrey Cox (page images at HathiTrust)
• The Harvard Lampoon Fiftieth Anniversary, 1876-1926 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Lampoon, 1926) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Ade's Fables (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1914), by George Ade, illust. by John T. McCutcheon
  • Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • illustrated HTML and page images at Indiana
• The American Credo: A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1920), by George Jean Nathan and H. L. Mencken (Gutenberg text and page images)
• The Best American Humorous Short Stories (with a short introduction; New York: Carlton House, ca. 1922), ed. by Alexander Jessup, contrib. by George Pope Morris, Edgar Allan Poe, Caroline M. Kirkland, Eliza Leslie, George William Curtis, Edward Everett Hale, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mark Twain, Harry Stillwell Edwards, Richard Malcolm Johnston, H. C. Bunner, Frank R. Stockton, Bret Harte, O. Henry, George Randolph Chester, Grace MacGowan Cooke, William James Lampton, and Wells Hastings
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at HathiTrust
• The Best American Humorous Short Stories (with an extensive introduction; ca. 1922), ed. by Alexander Jessup, contrib. by George Pope Morris, Edgar Allan Poe, Caroline M. Kirkland, Eliza Leslie, George William Curtis, Edward Everett Hale, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mark Twain, Harry Stillwell Edwards, Richard Malcolm Johnston, H. C. Bunner, Frank R. Stockton, Bret Harte, O. Henry, George Randolph Chester, Grace MacGowan Cooke, William James Lampton, and Wells Hastings (Gutenberg text)
• The Bride's Primer: Being a Series of Quaint Parodies on the Ways Of Brides and Their Misadventures Interlarded With Useful Hints for Their Advantage (New York: Phelps Pub. Co., c1905), contrib. by Thornton W. Burgess and Thomas L. Masson, illust. by F. Strothmann (page images at HathiTrust)
• College Humor, 1920-1921: Being a Digest of Humor Appearing in the College Humorous Publications and The Collegiate World, the National College Magazine (Chicago: Collegate World Pub. Co., c1921) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Fables in Slang (Chicago and New York: H. S. Stone and Co., 1901), by George Ade, illust. by Clyde J. Newman (Gutenberg text, illustrated HTML, and page images)
• The Girl Proposition: A Bunch of He and She Fables (New York and London: Harper and Bros., 1904), by George Ade, illust. by John T. McCutcheon, John Francis Holme, Carl Werntz, and Clyde J. Newman (illustrated HTML and page images at Indiana)
• Hand-Made Fables (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1920), by George Ade, illust. by John T. McCutcheon (illustrated HTML and page images at Indiana)
• The Life of the Party (New York: G. H. Doran Co., c1919), by Irvin S. Cobb, illust. by James M. Preston (Gutenberg text, illustrated HTML, and page images)
• More Fables (1900), by George Ade, illust. by Clyde J. Newman
  • Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
  • illustrated HTML and page images at Indiana
• New Minstrel and Black Face Joke Book, by Leading Footlight Favorites: The Best Monologues, Endmen's Gags, Jokes, Etc. As Delivered by the Best Known Fun Makers on the Minstrel and Vaudeville Stage (cover title "Funny Stories"; inner running title "New Minstrel Joke Book"; Baltimore: I. and M. Ottenheimer, c1907) (page images at Harvard)
• Three Rousing Cheers for the Rollo Boys (New York: G. H. Doran Co., c1925), by Corey Ford, illust. by Gluyas Williams (page images at HathiTrust)
• Yale Fun: A Book of College Humor in Poetry, Pictures and Prose, Chosen With Loving Care From the Yale Record of the Past Eight Years, Conceived in the Sanctum, Founded on Foam, and Dedicated to the Humorous Faculty (Hartford: R. S. Peck, c1901), ed. by Wells S. Hastings, Brian Hooker, and Henry S. Ely (page images at HathiTrust)
• English As She Is Wrote: Showing Curious Ways in Which the English Language May be Made to Convey Ideas or Obsure Them (New York: D. Appleton and Co., c1883) (page images at Google; US access only)
• Lightning Flashes and Electric Dashes: A Volume of Choice Telegraphic Literature, Humor, Fun, Wit and Wisdom (third edition; New York: W. J. Johnston, c1882), ed. by W. J. Johnston (page images at HathiTrust)
• Squibs of California: or, Every-Day Life Illustrated (Hartford: Mutual Pub. Co.; San Francisco: A. Roman and Co., 1874), by Palmer Cox
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at HathiTrust
• The Comic Natural History of the Human Race (Philadelphia: S. Robinson, c1851), ed. by John Cassin, contrib. by William A. Stephens, Richard Vaux, and Isaac W. Moore, illust. by H. L. Stephens (multiple formats at archive.org)
• The Humorous Poetry of the English Language, From Chaucer to Saxe, ed. by James Parton (Gutenberg text)
• The Humorous Poetry of the English Language, From Chaucer to Saxe (13th edition; Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1881), ed. by James Parton
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at HathiTrust
• The Humorous Poetry of the English Language, From Chaucer to Saxe (13th edition; Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1884), ed. by James Parton
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • page images at HathiTrust

More items available under broader and related terms at left.