An Autobiography [TRUE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION-a rare complete copy]

Trollope, Anthony

Price: 1950.00 USD

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1883. An extremely rare (of the "utmost rarity" per Smith) copy of the TRUE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION of Trollope's "An Autobiography", published by Harper & Brothers in their newspaper format Franklin Square Library. (This edition was published simultaneously with Blackwood's first English edition. The Preface by Trollope's son, Henry, was not published in this, the First American, issue of the work.) This is a Very Good + copy of the TRUE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. There is minor marginal chipping and ruffling, as one would expect, a small, light, marginal water stain on the first several pages (not invasive of the text), and some light pencil notations in the upper margin of the front wrapper. Unlike almost all extant issues in the series, the RARE OUTER WRAPPER IS PRESENT. What we believe may be the original mailing wrapper is also present. The spine staples are virtually unrusted and there is virtually no soiling or foxing. While the pages are age-toned, this copy is in remarkable condition given the ephemeral nature of the publication. The Franklin Square Library series was published by Harper to meet the large demand for literature at a low price. Usually selling for 10 or 15 cents a copy, the series eventually replaced Harper's Library of Select Novels Series and its Half-Hour Series. Trollope's "Is He Popenjoy" was the first issue in the Series and all of the remaining Trollope works published by Harper (except for some of his nonfiction works) were published in this Series. (Munro published the first American editions of Trollope's "Cousin Henry", "Two Heroines of Plumplington" and "The Landleaguers" in his newspaper format Seaside Library series.) (See Smith's Bibliography of Trollope's US publications.) Smith states: "This new series and its advertising logic sounded the death knell for collectors. First editions in this series are no longer books, but newspapers. Their fragility, format, and ephemeral makeup discouraged most buyers from keeping them.....few have survived." According to Smith, these issues are "rarely seen for sale and are usually found only in private collections and in certain research libraries." An extraordinary opportunity for the Trollope collector. Most Trollope collectors will never see this issue, much less own one. As with Trollope's first novels, the chance to own one is unlikely to arise often, if at all, for almost all collectors. AN EXTREMELY RARE COMPLETE ISSUE OF THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF TROLLOPE'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. A collection distinguishing copy. First edition. Very Good +.