Otis, Mrs. Harrison Gray [née Eliza Henderson Boardman]
Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1854. Original blind-stamped olive-green cloth. First (only?) Edition of this 419-page novel of Boston high society, written by a major member of that group. This a book about Boston's most prominent family, "the Barclays" (for which, read "the Otises") -- their rise to power, and how they shaped the City of Boston. Eliza was the wife of HGO Jr, not to be confused with her husband's mother (née Sally Foster), who also was Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis. HGO Jr died suddenly "of apoplexy" in 1827, at age 34, so by the year this book was published, 58-year-old Eliza had been a widow for 27 years. Eliza Henderson Boardman Otis, or "Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis," as she was known, was an heiress, socialite, and patriotic supporter of many civic ventures. Her husband, Harrison Gray Otis, Jr. (1792-1827), was the son of a Boston mayor and died soon after their marriage. Although her name is little known today, Mrs. Otis was one of the most popular society figures of the nineteenth century. At the outset of the war in 1861, she was invited to oversee Boston's City Donation Room to collect goods and money for Union soldiers and their families [Geni]. Late in life she also concentrated her efforts upon the securing of George Washington's home at Mount Vernon as a historic treasure. This volume, still in the original cloth, is in near-fine condition (very little wear, but with some discoloration of the cloth, as is typical for olive-green). Wright II 1828. Provenance: This copy is inscribed calligraphically by the author, "P P Pope Esq | with the kind regards of | Mrs Harrison Gray Otis | [flourish]". She additionally wrote the recipient's name at the top of the title page. We have not been able to determine who P. P. Pope was. We have seen a similarly (calligraphically) inscribed copy of this book, that mentions Mount Vernon in the inscription.
Henry, O. [pseudonym of William Sydney Porter]
With an Introduction by Florence Stratton. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1923. Original red cloth lettered in gold, with dust jacket. First Edition, first binding state, of this "treasure find of hundreds of short stories, burlesques, poems and whimsies, hitherto unpublished in book form" [per the jacket]. Most of these are among Porter's earliest writings, from his time employed by the Houston Post (1895-1896); it was not until he was in prison due to embezzlement that he adopted his pen-name -- after which his books began appearing in 1904-1910 (the year of his death). This copy, in the primary red cloth binding (later copies were in orange cloth lettered in black), is in fine condition; the uncommon jacket is near-fine, with quite minor wear at the bottom edge. Blanck 16304.
Conrad, Joseph
With an Introduction by Ford Madox Ford. New York: Crosby Gaige, 1928. Original red marbled boards, with printed spine label. First Edition, sole impression, which consisted of 926 copies on handmade paper. This was one of two tales left unfinished upon Conrad's death in 1924; the other, SUSPENSE, had been published in book form in 1925. Conrad had begun and abandoned "The Sisters" in 1896, making it one of his earliest pieces; in 1913 he sold the manuscript and copyright to John Quinn, with the stipulation that it not be published until after his death. This volume was designed and "printed by Bruce Rogers at the press of William Edwin Rudge," and is often collected for that reason. Spine slightly faded but otherwise fine. Supino B3.21.0.
Conrad, Joseph
New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1912. Original dark blue cloth. First (American) Edition of Conrad's most purely autobiographical work. This American edition was published on January 19, 1912; the English edition, titled SOME REMINISCENCES, was published sometime in January, so precedence is therefore uncertain. Beginning in 1916, all English editions adopted the American title, which had first been suggested by Harper. This copy is in the primary smooth cloth binding, and is in just-about-fine condition (the slightest of rubbing at the extremities). Supino A15.7.0; Cagle A15c, binding a. Provenance: bookplate of Alma Zimbalist (née Gluck but actually Reba Feinsohn, 1884-1938), the Romanian-born American opera singer; Gluck married the violinist Efrem Zimbalist Sr., and their son was the actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
(Conrad, Joseph) Keating, George T.
The Collection of George T. Keating. Garden City NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1929. Bound in full blue morocco, all edges gilt. First Edition, which consisted of 501 numbered copies, this being copy # 199. Aside from John Quinn (who bought most of Conrad's manuscripts directly from the author), George Keating was probably the major collector of Conrad's books during the latter's lifetime. Many of the very limited pamphlets produced for Conrad by Shorter and by Wise were done with people like Keating in mind. This is the catalogue of Keating's Conrad collection, showing how Conrad inscribed each and every book to Keating. Each chapter, on a Conrad major work, has a preface by another writer or Conrad associate of the day -- for example H.M. Tomlinson, Christopher Morley, Ford Madox Ford, John Galsworthy, Hugh Walpole, Arthur Symons, John Cowper Powys and Arthur Machen. This copy is bound in full blue morocco, with raised bands on the spine, all page edges richly gilt, and yellow watered silk endpapers, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe of London. Bound in at the end is a copy of the Yale University Library Gazette of July 1938, issued upon the occasion of Keating's collection arriving at Yale. Condition is fine. In all, a sumptuous copy of an important Conrad reference work. Teets & Gerber 869. Provenance: leather bookplate of Louis Auchincloss (1917-2010, American novelist, historian, biographer and essayist).
[a handsome copy] London and New York: Harper & Brothers, 1900. 2 pp undated ads. Original light brown cloth decorated in dark brown. First Edition of this collection of five fantastic tales: "The Crystal Egg," "The Star," "A Story of the Stone Age," "A Story of the Days to Come" and "The Man Who Could Work Miracles." The last story was the basis for the 1936 British film of the same title. This British edition, though dated 1900, was actually published in late 1899; although the American edition is dated 1899, it is considered to have been issued later than this one. "The Crystal Egg," for example, involves Martians -- like THE WAR OF THE WORLDS; an antiquarian shopkeeper discovers that by peering into a certain crystal egg at an angle of precisely 137 degrees, he can see, and ultimately communicate with, Martians who apparently sent the egg as a sort of Eye on Earth. Said communication ends when the shopkeeper is discovered dead in his shop, clutching the egg in his hand. This is a close-to-fine, attractive copy, with a partially-erased decorative ink-stamp on the half-title. There is remarkably little of the cover soil that usually afflicts this light-colored binding -- just a few faint speckles near the upper fore-corner of the front cover, and a minor blemish (due to the threads in the cloth) on the lower spine. Copies any better seldom turn up. Currey p. 524; Bleiler (Supernatural Fiction) 1678; Hammond C4; Wells Soc. 16.
London: Archibald Constable and Company, 1904. 16 pp undated ads. Original deep red cloth. First Edition, which consisted of 3,000 copies. This was Gissing's incomplete historical novel, posthumously published. He still had five chapters to write when on 28 December 1903, wracked with double pneumonia, he died in the French Pyrenees. H.G. Wells, who had been summoned and had arrived on Christmas Day, was present at Gissing's death bed, and wrote the original preface for this work; however, the Gissing family objected to it so strongly that one by Frederic Harrison was substituted. (Wells published his in a periodical anyway). Constable made no objection to publishing the novel as it stood. [S&C]. VERANILDA takes place in Ancient Rome, continuing Gissing's fascination with that country (and that era); he spent four months in 1897-1898 preparing for this book. In late 1900 he wrote to his friend Eduard Bertz, "I really think I can make an interesting book. One thing is certain -- I know my period.". This is a very good-plus, perhaps near-fine copy with minor soil and rubbing. Coustillas A26.1a; Collie B1a; Spiers & Coustillas DD9. Provenance: this copy appropriately came to us from Italy, and bears the inscription "To Distinctissima, Signora, Contessa, Marianna Brenzoni, in remembrance of S.S. "Irma" July, 1909 -- from R.W.R."; loosely inserted is the calling card "Mr. R.W. Robins" with "with" and " ' compts." added.
[a "Palliser" novel] London: Chapman and Hall, 1873. Original terra-cotta cloth stamped in black and gilt. First English Edition (Harper's one-volume edition was published in October 1872; this three-decker came out two months later, in December). This is Trollope's tale about the adventuress Lizzie Greystock -- "the very beautiful, superficially clever and completely selfish daughter of an admiral who was no credit whatever to the British Navy" [Gerould]. She trapped wealthy Sir Florian Eustace into marrying her just before he died, and so came into possession of a diamond necklace -- which she claimed he had given her but his relatives claimed as an heirloom. But then the necklace was stolen not once but twice, or was it actually? As a "Palliser" novel, it includes many of the same characters who had been in CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? and in PHINEAS FINN. Sadleir describes the primary binding as "salmon-brown sand-grained cloth," with the spine lettering in gilt and black, and with a black front cover border and a blind-stamped rear cover border; this cloth is terra-cotta rather than salmon, and has the single-line border in black on both the front and rear covers. The second and third volumes are just about FINE; the first is very good-plus (slight wear at the spine ends, minor bubbling of the front cover cloth, faint rear cover crease, publisher's spine imprint rubbed). For some reason we seldom see this title in original cloth: over our 45 years in business we been able to offer only four (one in the primary salmon cloth, two in this terra-cotta cloth with the same spine and front cover lettering, and one in the later green cloth with different lettering -- none on the front cover). Sadleir (TROLLOPE) 39. Provenance: small bookplates of "Henry G. Burke | Baltimore" (1902-1989), a founding member of the Jane Austen Society of North America; the Austen collection he and his wife Alberta formed is at her alma mater Goucher College. ("Mrs. Burke once caused a furor at a meeting of The Jane Austen Society in Chawton [UK]: complaints were being made that "some American" had bought at auction a lock of J.A.'s hair. Mrs. Burke promptly stood up, declared herself the American, and presented the Society with her purchase" [JASNA].).
[in the two-in-one binding] With Forty Illustrations. In Two Volumes [in one]. London: Chapman and Hall, 1875. Original green cloth decorated in black and gilt. First Edition in book form, following publication in twenty monthly parts. Sadleir initially attributed the forty illustrations to Luke Fildes (as they are signed "LF"), but subsequently corrected it to Lionel Fawkes. This was one of Trollope's six "social satire" novels, the tale of the rise and fall of Augustus Melmotte's financial empire -- and its effect on his daughter's options for marriage. Though Walpole praised this book up and down ("one of the most remarkable of all English novels published between 1860 and 1890"), Trollope himself thought little of it: "The book has all the fault which is to be attributed to almost all satires. The accusations are exaggerated. The vices are coloured, so as to make effect rather than to represent truth." This copy is bound two-volumes-in-one (with the original two title pages), in bright green cloth decorated in black and gilt (as with the original two-volume binding). This was not a "remainder" binding (cheap, plain bindings in which publishers would sometimes put unsold sets of sheets); rather it was an alternative binding offered to the public, especially at railway stalls since one volume was more convenient for railway reading. Sadleir does not mention this binding -- though he does mention that eight months after publication the remaining sheets were bought out by Chatto & Windus and issued with a C&W title page and binding (-- which means that this Chapman & Hall two-in-one binding was indeed issued on or very shortly after the date of publication). This is a bright, very good-plus copy -- with a little wrinkling on the spine, a touch of wear along the rear fore-edge and tips, and cracked endpapers (typical for such a hefty volume). The plates are unusually clean and sharp. Sadleir (TROLLOPE) p. 147.
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1880. Undated endpaper ads. Original mustard yellow cloth decorated in black. First American Edition (it is uncertain whether this or Munro's "Seaside Library" edition preceded; Holt's was, however, the authorized one, and also it was listed in Publishers' Weekly a week earlier). This was issued as No. 118 in Holt's "Leisure Hour Series," the series in which most of Hardy's early novels first appeared in America. By 1880, the books in this series were being issued with numbers, with undated endpaper ads, and in mustard yellow cloth; in the 1870s the volumes had been issued un-numbered, with dated endpaper ads, and in cream cloth. In this copy the endpaper ads, though undated, are the primary ones (on the inside front cover listing no Hardy volumes issued after this one, and withOUT this title on the front free endpaper). This is a very good copy (minor wear at the spine ends, a bit of faint soil). See Purdy p. 35.
[in the two-in-one binding] With Twenty-Four Illustrations. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. Original green cloth decorated in black and gilt (paginated for two separate volumes). First Edition of this novel that picks up where several previous ones left off. It is primarily a continuation of PHINEAS FINN, with Phineas returning to London after seven years of exile in Ireland and the death of his wife. But the Palliser family also figures in the plot, as it does in FRAMLEY PARSONAGE, DOCTOR THORNE and several other Trollope novels; Lizzie Eustace (with her new husband) also makes an appearance, fresh from her adventures in THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS. PHINEAS REDUX first appeared serially in The Graphic, 26 weekly instalments (July 1873 - January 1874), each with an illustration. The book edition, using 24 of the illustrations, was published in two blue-cloth volumes in December 1873 (though dated 1874). In 1874 the publisher Routledge took over publication of this book, and not only issued C&H's unsold copies and sheets, two-volumes-in-one with separate pagination, but also printed up some additional copies that have continuous pagination. This copy is bound up two-volumes-in-one (separately paginated), with one Chapman and Hall single-volume title page and in a Chapman and Hall binding; if this was issued by Routledge, there is nothing so identifying that. This was not a "remainder" binding (cheap, plain bindings in which publishers would sometimes put unsold sets of sheets); rather it was an alternative binding offered to the public, especially at railway stalls since one volume was more convenient for railway reading. This copy is externally bright and near-fine (a couple of small nicks in the foot of the spine); remarkably, there is only minor cracking of this hefty volume's original endpapers. March 18th 1891 signature on the half-title. This two-volumes-in-one C&H binding is quite uncommon. Sadleir 41 (plus Addenda). Housed in an open-back cloth case.
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1874. Undated endpaper ads. Original mustard-yellow cloth decorated in black. First American Edition, later impression (in mustard-yellow rather than cream-colored cloth, and with the endpaper ads including THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, not published until 1878). This was Hardy's fourth novel, and his first that is still widely read today; his prior three novels (DESPERATE REMEDIES, UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE and A PAIR OF BLUE EYES) have been labeled by some (such as Stewart) as Hardy's "apprentice pieces." This tale of Bathsheba Everdene and Gabriel Oak includes events such as illegitimacy, murder and insanity -- themes Hardy would develop further until, by the time of TESS and JUDE, he would be so far ahead of his time that he would cease writing novels for the last 32 years of his life. This is a very good copy, with light fraying of the spine ends and with faint spotting along the edges of the front cover. Purdy p. 17.
With Illustrations by I.W. Taber. London: Macmillan and Co., 1897. 2 pp undated ads. Original blue cloth pictorially decorated in gilt, all page edges gilt. First English Edition, published about a month after the American. This is Kipling's great novel about the cod fishing fleet of Gloucester Massachusetts, written while the newlywed Kiplings lived in Vermont. Kipling freely acknowledged that the book owed much to Dr. James Conland of Brattleboro, who brought the Kiplings' elder daughter into the world -- for Conland had been a member of the Massachusetts fishing fleet, and it was he who took Kipling to explore the wharves and quays of Boston and Gloucester. (The American edition, in fact, is dedicated to Conland; this English edition bears no dedication.) This is the only book of Kipling's which is set entirely in America. All the characters are American. Not only that, but the heart of the book -- its moral in a single sentence -- is one of Kipling's main beliefs of this period expressed in terms essentially American, or perhaps more particularly New England. He put it later in verse: ".If you don't work you will die!" It is a saga of hard physical work in conflict with natural forces. It is a book which could hardly have been written by anyone who did not admire Huckleberry Finn; it is a book whose claim to survival rests mainly on detail, and it is all American detail [Mason]. CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS was the fourth and last volume to be bound in Macmillan's attractive gift binding style used for the JUNGLE BOOKs in 1894-1895 and for SOLDIER TALES in 1896. In 1937, forty years after publication, this tale was made into a film starring Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy (who won an Oscar), Lionel Barrymore and Mickey Rooney. This is an unusually bright copy, fine except for the slightest of rubbing at the spine tips and small bumps at the fore-tips. The original black-coated endpapers are not cracked. Richards A103; Stewart 163.
New York: Holt & Williams, 1873. Endpaper ads dated May 10, 1873. Original cream cloth decorated in black. First American Edition, first issue, of Thomas Hardy's first book appearance in North America. This was his second novel, initially published in two volumes in London in June 1872; however, Hardy's first novel, DESPERATE REMEDIES, was not published in America until 1874. The first issue, as here, has both the title page and binding listing the publisher as Holt & Williams, and has endpaper ads dated in 1873; by the following year, the publisher's name was Henry Holt & Co. This is a good-plus copy, with a darkened spine, moderate cover soil, and wear at the spine ends. The initial owner, of Washington PA, put his signature and the date "6-21-73" not only on the front flyleaf but also on the front cover; while this writing on the front cover would be regarded by most as a flaw, such pride of ownership of a first published book, just six weeks after publication, would be regarded as a plus by some. Not a great-looking copy, but the initial Holt & Williams edition of this book is scarce. See Purdy p. 8.
[in the publisher's leather binding] Fully Illustrated by Eminent Artists. (Issued by Subscription Only, and Not for Sale in Bookstores.) Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [etc. -- but including New Orleans and excluding Boston], 1872. 1 page undated ads. Original three-quarter brown morocco with paneled spine, with brown cloth sides, and with marbled page edges and endpapers. First American Edition, usual mixed issue, of this very early Twain title -- his fourth major book. In July 1861, as the Civil War was getting underway, Twain headed out west as private secretary to his brother Orion, who had just been appointed Secretary of Nevada Territory; Twain's "account of the continental crossing with Orion is a full-throated celebration of a golden era, of travel, youth, adventure, and America's last frontier" [Kaplan]. According to Blanck, the first issue is identifiable by the proper presence of two words in lines 20-21 on p. 242 (here, as is often the case, one of the two words is lacking due to type slippage); this copy does have ads on p. [592] (no precedence certain). MacDonnell goes on to identify three other cases of type slippage (on pages xi, 19 and 123); here, only the third is unworn. More importantly, MacDonnell also identifies two cases of actual word substitution (on pages 156 and 330): in this copy, both have the earlier reading. The publisher's imprint of this copy is atypical (Blanck notes that there are variations): on the fifth line, in place of "George M. Smith & Co., Boston, Mass.", this copy reads J.W. Goodspeed, New Orleans, LA." It is bound in the publisher's three-quarter brown morocco -- one of four bindings offered (at various prices) to subscribers. The volume is tight and very good-plus (some rubbing at the extremities). MacDonnell pp 35-36; Blanck 3337; McBride p. 18. In our experience, it is quite difficult to find desirable copies of the first three of Twain's books that were issued in this hefty, oversized format (THE INNOCENTS ABROAD in 1869, this title in 1872, and THE GILDED AGE in 1873); it is not that hard to find the fourth and last (A TRAMP ABROAD in 1879). Provenance: the front pastedown bears the German-language bookplate of Gustav Siegle, and a front flyleaf bears his small inkstamp with "Stuttgart". Siegle (1840-1905) was a German chemist and entrepreneur who founded the paint factory G. Siegle & Co.; in 1873 he merged it into the company BASF (founded eight years earlier) -- which today is the largest (in sales) chemical company in the world. From 1887 to 1898, Siegle was elected to represent the Stuttgart area in the German Reichstag.
[inscribed by a dedicatee] Consisting of The Beach of Falesa / The Bottle Imp / The Isle of Voices. With Illustrations by Gordon Browne and W. Hatherell. London Paris & Melbourne: Cassell & Company, 1893. 16 pp ads dated September 1892 ("7G-9.92"). Original blue-grey cloth pictorially decorated in gilt. First English Edition, published five days after the American, of these three tales from the South Pacific islands. This copy has several idiosyncracies, all related to the fact that this was in effect a colonial copy, initially sent to Australia. (1) The front paste-down bears the small book-label of Dymock's Book Arcade at 428 George-st. in Sydney. (In 1879 William Dymock opened his bookstore on Market Street, and a few years later upsized to George Street; after his death the business passed to his sister Marjory Forsyth, and still is privately owned today with about fifty branches in Australia.) (2) In this copy the preliminary ad leaf (which lists seven RLS titles and their prices) is excised; this would have been done by the publisher (or possibly by Dymock) for copies being sent directly to a colony, since those prices would not apply. (3) The ad catalogue in this copy is dated September 1892, rather than the usual March 1893 (the book wasn't actually published domestically until April 1893); copies sent by sea to colonies were often among the earliest bound up, to offset the time spent at sea. And most importantly, (4) -- see this copy's Provenance, below. This is a very good-plus copy (volume a bit askew and endpapers cracking, both as usual; minor rubbing at the extremities). Beinecke 577; Princeton 53A [copy1]. Provenance: In addition to the Dymock booklabel, this copy bears (on the half-title) the inked inscription "To Capt. Davis | with Jack Buckland's | compliments." John Wilberforce "Tin Jack" Buckland (1864-1897) is named as one of the "Three Old Shipmates among the Islands" to whom this book is dedicated, on the leaf following the title page. Buckland was an island trader who would make some money sailing around the South Pacific, then go to Sydney and blow it all; his actual income was 700 a year from a trust fund established from the sale of the home of the elderly couple who had taken him in, after his own family returned to England without him when he was just nine. In April 1890 Buckland had met the Stevenson family when he and they were passengers on the trading steamer "Janet Nicoll" (Fanny wrote a published journal about this voyage). Buckland was acknowledged by RLS to have been the inspiration for the character "Tommy Haddon" in his 1892 book THE WRECKER; another character inspired by Buckland makes an appearance in this very book -- "young Buncombe" in the tale "The Beach at Falesa" (see pp 34ff). In early 1894, Buckland spent three weeks with the Stevenson family at Vailima on Samoa; RLS would die that December. "Tin Jack" took his own life in 1897, at age 32 or 33, when he learned that the trustee in charge of his money had defrauded the trust of all its funds. As for the "Capt. Davis" of Buckland's inscription, this was most likely Edward Henry Meggs Davis (1846-1929), who in 1887 was promoted to Captain and in 1891 was given command of the HMS Royalist. In 1891-1892, Davis and the HMS Royalist conducted a survey among the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Territory of Papua, the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands and the Ellice Islands -- in short, many of the same places Jack Buckland was visiting, those same years.
