When Egypt Went Broke
A Novel
by Holman Day 1865–1935
The book, and the century it came out of.
Egypt, Maine — a mill town — goes broke when the bank fails, and a scheme to print local currency, a mill owner, and a young man with nothing to lose take it from there. Day was a Maine newspaperman whose books are full of loggers, river drivers and small-town politicians; the title is the joke, and the economics of a one-industry town in the 1920s are exact enough to be read as history. Illustrated with 59 full-page plates — paintings by Gjøs, Ancher and Gestel among them.
Some fishermen, seeking bait, stay up late and “jack” angleworms with a bull’s-eye light.
When Egypt Went Broke, by Holman Day, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.
It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.
- Series
- Comedy & Satire
- Format
- Ebook
- Extent
- about 248 pages
- Reading time
- about 5 hours
- Illustrations
- Full-page plates, credited
- Text
- Complete, unabridged
- Language
- en
- This edition
- 2026
- ISBN
- 9785501171169
59 paintings are bound into this edition
Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.
A page from this edition
Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.
Both photographed from the finished volume.
When Egypt Went Broke, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Comedy & Satire shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.
Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785501171169, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.
Questions readers ask
- Is this the whole of When Egypt Went Broke?
- Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
- What exactly did you change?
- The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. Holman Day's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
- Are the pictures really in the book?
- Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
- How long is it?
- About 248 pages, which is roughly about 5 hours of reading.
- What do I actually get?
- An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
