Gleanings From the Harvest Fields of Literature

Gleanings from the Harvest Fields of Literature was first published in the late 19th century as a curated anthology of literary curiosities, anecdotes, and miscellany. Charles Carroll Bombaugh, a physician and editor with a penchant for the unusual, compiled this work to serve as a comprehensive reference for readers interested in the obscure and the witty. The collection was designed to function as an encyclopedic miscellany, reflecting the Victorian appetite for parlor-room trivia and intellectual stimulation, aiming to preserve snippets of information that might otherwise be lost to time.

The design of the volume adheres to the aesthetic standards of late-nineteenth-century American publishing, often featuring ornate cloth bindings typical of the era's gift books. It was received as a valuable resource for speakers, writers, and curious individuals seeking aphorisms, historical oddities, and linguistic quirks. The work remained a staple of personal libraries for decades, praised for its broad reach and the meticulous, if eclectic, nature of Bombaugh's research and organization.