It may interest the reader to know that half of the writings in this volume are by women.

Sole edition. The volume was a fund-raising effort: “The principal reason that these stories have been gathered together and given to the public, is to start a fund wherewith to erect a fountain on the Campus of the University of California to be in harmony with the great Hearst architectural plan.”

Binding:  Publisher's blue cloth stamped in gilt with title and a scene of a rolling hill with trees on it. Binding signed “Kales.”

•  BAL 15035.   Binding as above: gilt a little rubbed or dulled. Overall, very good.  (34834)

The work was first serially published in Ainsworth's Magazine in 1842–43, with a three-decker book-form printing following shortly after its completion; the present example (described as a “new edition” on the title-page) follows the story's first appearance in one volume in 1843. This copy is in the publisher's original gilt-stamped red cloth binding.

•  NCBEL, III, 912; NSTC 2A5904.   Publisher's textured red cloth, covers with embossed knotwork frames, front cover with gilt-stamped deer and castle vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title and three scenes; joints and extremities rubbed with cloth starting to peel at back corners, spine and board edges somewhat darkened. Frontispiece portrait with upper outer corner waterstained (not affecting image), added engraved title-page darkened, scattered small spots of foxing to pages and plates. A delightful Cruikshank item, and thrill-inducing in its own right as an English Gothic historical novel. (39887)

This is the original first edition, not a modern reprint.

Binding:  Publisher's light blue straight-grained cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title, front cover with desert vignette stamped in black and green.

•  Binding as above, minimal wear to extremities, spine with small area of light discoloration. Light pencilled underlining and marks of emphasis, including a star and a wing (all removable). A nice copy of an interesting volume.  (28604)

James Lane Allen's depiction of Kentucky's people and culture won him the title of“Kentucky's first important novelist.” A Kentucky Cardinal and its sequel, Aftermath, were his third and fourth novels published.

Binding:  Publisher's hunter green cloth with gilt lettering and all-over decoration of foliage and cardinals to front board and spine. Fore- and bottom edges untrimmed; top edge gilt.

•  Bound as above; spine faded and light rubbing to rear board. Very minor crack at front hinge (inside) and another minor crack at gutter, p. 46; interior clean. A lovingly illustrated tale in a beautiful binding.  (37532)

This isnumbered copy 733 of 2000 printed, signed at the colophon by the illustrator. Both the appropriate Club newsletter (in its original envelope) and the prospectus are laid in.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 497.   Publisher's fabric-covered binding as above, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, in original brown paper–covered slipcase with printed paper label; spine cloth very slightly (and unobtrusively) sunned, slipcase showing only minimal traces of shelfwear.A nice copy of this handsome piece of LEC exotica.  (36838)

Signed binding: Publisher's green cloth, front cover pictorially stamped with a young lady in a luxury car in black, white and red, spine with gilt-stamped title. Front cover design with “A” monogram in a half circle. Designer unknown.

•  Dinkytown, American Decorated Covers, 1890–1930, 13.   Binding as above, slightly cocked with very (very) minor rubbing to extremities. A nice copy of an interesting “period” work.  (36774)

Bell (1867–1929) was born in Chicago, brought up in Atlanta, and after marriage lived in Tarrytown, NY.

Binding:  Blue cloth, front cover stamped in black, very pale green, and rust; at center a young couple arm in arm in formal wear with four small vignettes at the corners of the frame around them. The four offer symbols of love (hearts and an arrow), commitment to honest hard work (a rooster up at dawn), social relaxation (a wine carafe and glass, and study (books and an inkwell and pen). Signed “AS” (Amy Sacker).

Provenance:  Private pressure-stamp, “The Blasberg Collection,” to endpaper and title-page.

Evidence of readership: Pencil notes on front free endpaper and on the contents page either tying text to appearances in Harper's Magazine or summarizing events on specific pages of this book.

•  Smith, American Fiction, 1901–1925, B-463 (for first book edition).   Binding as above, lightly rubbed. Old paperclip rust-stains to four leaves, else very good.  (37059)

Binding:  Bound by Russell-Rutter Company in half white leather with slightly raised bands a gilt-background title label; smooth vellum-paper sides, gold-stamped with a large image of Ruth holding a sheaf of grain and a scythe. Top edge gilt.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 184.   Binding as above, in the original gold foil-covered slipcase; volume with spine and corners moderately darkened and rubbed, slipcase foil with expectable rubbing and spine chipped. LEC newsletter creased, with small stains. In spite of these flaws, still a sturdy case and a pleasing book, internally bright and lovely.  (36857)

Binding: Publisher's red pictorial cloth, front cover and spine stamped in black, brown, and gilt.

•  Good++: Some soiling to binding; light to moderate foxing internally.  (8539)

Binding:  Publisher's green decorative cloth printed on front cover with a guitar and lady's fan in gilt and with a flowering vine design in dark green and gold; spine lettered in gold.

•  BAL 2073, state 2; Wright, III, 814.   Bound as above, slightly cocked; top and bottom of spine rubbed with loss of green coloring of cloth, now a bit frayed, and spots of discoloration on rear cover. Interior lightly age-toned, overall unmarked and readable. A nice copy.  (35454)

•  BAL 2482 (second printing state, with plates included in pagination). Publisher's brown cloth, front cover stamped in gilt and green, spine with gilt-stamped title; front cover lightly scuffed, with corners rubbed. Front fly-leaf with inked gift inscription "to My Daughter," dated 1890; newspaper clipping about Carleton affixed to front fly-leaf, poem affixed to back fly-leaf as described above. Several insurance advertisements, religious leaflets, and other ephemera laid in.  (14367)

This is the genuine first edition, not a modern reprint.

Binding:  Publisher's olive cloth, front cover with Art Nouveau water lily design and gilt-stamped title, spine with gilt-stamped title.

•  Binding as above, minor rubbing at extremities. Front free endpaper with pencilled Christmas gift inscription dated 1902; back free endpaper with rubber-stamped numeral (no other markings). Pages and plates clean. A very nice copy.  (28585)

A book of toasts and quotations for all occasions organized by categories (love, the army, colleges, sports, particular quaffs, life's joys, etc.) presented in a merry, decorative (and signed) binding.

Binding:  Publisher's yellow/tan cloth with yellow-stamped lettering to spine, purple and yellow-stamped lettering bordered by black on front board with purple grapes, green leaves and yellow tankards and goblets surrounding a giant steaming punchbowl as decoration. Top edge gilt, black ribbon bookmark included. Signed “AR” (i.e., Amy Richards).

•  Bound as above; edges lightly rubbed, parts of text on spine rubbed, faint spots of soiling to front board. Light spotting to fore-edge, a few random finger smudges, soiling to gutter of p. 98. Wassail in a fitting decorative binding!  (38318)

Provenance:  Front fly-leaf with inked inscription: “John H. White Merry Christmas from Mabel 1903.”

Binding:  Publisher's cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and decorative red-stamped frame surrounding an affixed, color-printed illustration of a broken cannon in a cloudy landscape.

•  Binding as above, very slightly cocked, extremities very lightly rubbed. Inscription as above; pages clean and crisp. A lovely thing.  (35256)

Binding:  Publisher’s green cloth with white lettering to front board and spine, front cover with dark green and white scene of a log cabin in the woods. Unsigned (and notably fine).

Provenance:  On front free endpaper, signature of Frank U. Burden, “Christmas, 1902.”

•  Not in Minsky.   Bound as above; mild rubbing to edges and spine-head, wrinkle to cloth at top outside corner of front board. Light offsetting from something once laid in to inner margins of two facing pages. A charming binding, a clean handsome book.  (37533)

Binding:  Publisher's terra-cotta cloth, front cover stamped with gilt rose and ribbon design, spine with similar motifs; front coversigned “G.W.E.” — George Wharton Edwards.

•  BAL 4200.   Binding as above, gently faded overall, slightly cocked, edges and extremities rubbed. Top edge gilt. Front free endpaper with early inked ownership inscription. A few scattered faint spots, pages overall clean.  (35835)

Signed Binding: Publisher's teal pebbled cloth, front covers with striking chariot and armorial scene in light blue, tan, and gilt. The “Cibeles” statue found in Madrid's Cibeles Plaza and the coat of arms (and gilt monogram) of the city of Madrid appear with de la Cruz's name stamped in gilt below; spines offer gilt-stamped title and black-stamped griffin decoration. Cover of vol. II is signed “J. Orba.” All page edges are stamped in a Greek key pattern in blue and gilt.

Provenance:  Half-titles each with old-fashioned rubber-stamp of José Carmona y Ramos.

•  Palau 65340.   Bindings as above, edges and extremities showing minor shelfwear, back cover of vol. I with small spots of faint discoloration, front joint of vol. II rubbed. Collector's stamp as above, each front pastedown with small paper label bearing hand-inked numeral. Pages age-toned; edges slightly embrittled, occasionally with small chips or short tears. Scattered light smudges in vol. I; vol. II with mild to moderate foxing. A peacocky set.  (29262)

Binding:  Publisher's light green cloth with gilt lettering to spine and front board. The front board is divided into four compartments by single-ruled black borders; a scene of a man walking along a railroad track stamped in blue, black, and gilt decorates the top section.

•  Wright, III, 1331.   Binding as above; extremities a bit rubbed, spine faded not unattractively. Small waterstain to top edge of about a dozen leaves, minor dirtying and finger-smudges to a handful of pages; overall very nice.  (37534)

Binding: Original brown cloth with beveled edges, stamped in gilt and black with gilt lettering to front board and spine; gilt vignette of the Academy to front board.

Provenance: Cunningham, an affectionate and appreciative graduate of the Academy, has inscribed the front free endpaper“With the compliments of the author, 6/22, '83.” Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Extremities lightly rubbed, minor bumping; gilt bright on spine and brighter on cover. Very nice, clean copy “personalized” by the author.  (37760)

The story is illustrated witheight color plates (including the frontispiece) by legendary artist Arthur Rackham. This is a later issue of the first edition, in the original red cloth, with Rackham's name not given on the title-page and no page numbers on the illustrations.

Binding:  Publisher's red cloth, spine with black-lettered, gilt-stamped label and Native American vignette, front cover with three men on a whaling ship with the name “Scud” on the side, watching two Native Americans rowing a canoe; main design stamped in black and white with accents of blue and brown.

Provenance:  On front free endpaper, the bookplate of B. George Ulizio, an avid bibliophile and collector. Kent State University holds much of his British and American literature collection.

•  BAL 4434 (for the 1840 first edition).   Binding as above, boards slightly bowed, dark spotting to top and fore-edge, scrape to fore-edge; in a brown cloth clamshell case, black label with gilt lettering, overall rubbing, the brown ribbon book-pull within now in two pieces. Frontispiece beginning to pull away, but still attached at the top; interior age-toned with occasional foxing. A fascinating journey in a striking cloth binding, with illustrations fromearly in Rackham's career.  (38624)

Signed binding: Teal cloth, front cover with village scene stamped in dark green, terra cotta, and white, marked with the distinctive intertwined capital Ds of Decorative Designers (Henry and Lee Thayer).

•  Binding as above, slightly cocked, spine dimmed, front panel lightly rubbed. Front free endpaper with early inked ownership inscription of Lottie Ellis. One piece of dried plant matter laid in.  (35665)

The text is printed in an unusual, elegant late-19th-century font on china paper and decorated with a frontispiece, engraved title-page, and seven in-text vignettes; the frontispiece is signed “J.W.S.”

Binding:  Publisher's cream cloth, front cover stamped in gilt, white, tan, yellow, red, and shades of green in a delicately stunning japonesque, Eastlake'y style that we findeasier to appreciate than to describe.

Provenance:  Front pastedown inscribed in ink “Esther Le Fevre [/] Sunday School.”

•  Wright, III, 1529.   Binding as above, housed in half of publisher's original matching cloth-covered box; box half with small splits to edges and corners, volume cloth with spots of light foxing (on the front cover, almost entirely confined to edges). Inscription as above. Pages clean; two pages with small traces of paper adhesion in outer margins. Very, very, very attractive.  (39420)

•  Publisher's cloth, front cover and spine decoratively gilt-stamped; spine, lower edges, and corners a touch rubbed. Top edge gilt. A few leaves and plates with waterstaining to lower outer corners, scattered spots of light foxing.  (18409)

Binding:  Publisher's blue cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title. Cloth is ribbed and fits Krupp's Rb3 pattern.

Evidence of readership: One pencilled footnote, arguing that capital punishment is the will of the divine.

•  American Imprints 55455. On the binding cloth, see: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823–50, p. 40.   Binding as above; spine and board edges gently faded, extremities rubbed. Mild to moderate foxing throughout. An interesting book in a good example of an early American cloth binding.  (34765)

•  Publisher's embossed cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title; corners and spine extremities showing minor wear, with gilt oxidized. Front free endpaper with pencilled inscription; some page edges with small blotches. Binding very handsome in its subtle way. Impossible! to get a good image of!  (12986)

Signed binding: Publisher's dark blue cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped stylized double fish design, signed with the double D monogram of Decorative Designers; spine with gilt-stamped title and scallop shell. Top edge gilt.

•  Binding as above, corners and spine a bit rubbed. Front pastedown with private owner's bookplate. A clean, attractive copy.  (28862)

The work opens with an introduction from the publishers, who dedicated the Life to the members of the First Christian Church and Society of Kittery, ME. The frontispiece portrait of Fernald was engraved by John Sartain, after a daguerrotype.

Binding:  Publisher's textured black cloth, covers framed in blind rules and with foliate designs surrounding central gilt-stamped floral motifs on both boards. Spine gilt extra, all edges gilt.

•  Bound as above; spine extremities and corners rubbed, cloth showing small split starting at foot of front joint (hinge holding). Mild foxing to margins of frontispiece, with offsetting to title-page from guard leaf; two pages with small section of offsetting from now-absent laid-in item; pages otherwise clean. A solid, worthwhile copy with its gilt shining bright and crisp. (38618)

Binding:  Publisher's green cloth, front cover and spine stamped in black, gilt, and yellow, with a frame of apples and greenery surrounding a decorative title and small gilt motifs.

•  Binding as above, corners and spine extremities very slightly rubbed, dust jacket lacking. Endpapers and a few pages sprinkled with spots of faint staining, pages generally clean A popular and entertaining author, in an attractive and well-preserved binding.  (35257)

•  Publisher's cloth, front cover and spine stamped in white, black, orange, and gilt; lacking the dust jacket, with binding slightly cocked, spine stamping a bit dimmed. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription.  (13027)

Binding:  In the style of a percaline mosaïquée, but the gilt and mosaic are applied to a textured pebbled cloth. Spine gilt extra with added “mosaic” of green, white, red and blue. Front cover with a blind-stamped border incorporating elegant corner-pieces; within this, “Souvenir de Versailles” gilt-stamped in an arc above a large on-laid crowned coat of arms flanked by banners and flags, this embellished in gilt with rich use of blue, white, red, blue, and green. Rear cover with similar blind-stamped border and a different large gilt-stamped center device strikingly incorporating an on-lay of blue stamped in gilt with a military medal. All edges gilt.

•  On this type of binding, see: Morris & Levin, The Art of Publishers' Bookbindings, pp. 94–97.   Binding as above, rubbed to the underlying boards at the corners of the boards and top of spine slightly pulled with one bit of rubbing. Scattered pale brown stains mostly on interleaves and sometimes visible on versos of plates; some discoloration in some margins of plates and occasionally into one; overwhelmingly a clean copy, remarkably bright and unfoxed. A strong and nice example of this category of “souvenir” and of a gilt mosaic binding.  (30464)

•  Publisher's green cloth binding, front cover stamped in black and gilt; bright and clean, with cloth showing only very minor wear to corners and extremities. All edges gilt.  (14437)

•  Publisher's teal cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title and decorative floral motifs; back cover and corners showing very slight scuffing. Back hinge cracked and front hinge starting; front free endpaper excised. Still, an attractive copy.  (18393)

Binding:  Publisher's red cloth, covers and spine gilt-stamped with avian and foliate designs; all edges gilt.

•  Faxon 786.  Spine and edges moderately rubbed with front hinge cracked; spots of staining to bottom part of front cover. Front free endpaper with good portion torn away, back free endpaper lacking; waterstaining in varying degrees to lower outer corners after p. 120 and some soiling. One signature extruded and others heading for that; one plate shaved very very close to image at top but image itself not quite touched! Not a fresh copy, still, an interesting one. (12944)

Binding:  Decorated publisher's binding: blue cloth with “silver”-stamped lettering and fleur-de-lis decorations to front board and spine, front cover with large “silver”-stamped vignette of a medieval gentleman holding a cage with two owls. “Silver” work actually aluminum and very bright!

Provenance:  On front free endpaper, two ownership stamps of Sarah E. Lembeck.

•  BAL 6747 (state A imprint, state A binding).   Bound as above; spine cocked and extremities and joints lightly rubbed. Stamps as above. Crease to p. 42; interior otherwise unspoiled. A handsomely medieval-esque production.  (37506)

Binding:  Blue publisher's cloth, spine stamped in gilt with fancified title and partly arabesque design, covers decoratively framed in blind.

•  Not in Faxon, nor Thompson, American Literary Annuals & Gift Books; for another year, see Tepper, American Gift Books & Literary Annuals. (Second edition), p. 100.   Bound as above, recently well rebacked with original spine laid on and new endpapers, gently rubbed, small sticker on spine. Light age-toning and foxing (especially around the frontispiece as usual), with occasional other spotting or staining (some perhaps in press); a sound copy representingan interesting phenomenon in marketing.  (37262)

•  BAL 7841.   Publisher's tan cloth, front cover with affixed color-printed paper illustration; binding somewhat darkened (especially spine), corners and spine extremities rubbed, a few small spots of discoloration to front and back covers. Front pastedown with pencilled gift inscription, front free endpaper with bookseller's small ticket. Pages clean. A very nice book. (20839)

Binding:  Publisher's very bright blue cloth, front cover with overall oak-and-acorn and geometric pattern stamped in gilt and black, with decorative title and sun vignette, spine similar. All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above, slightly cocked, extremities lightly rubbed; sewing of first signature loosening. Four leaves with short tear in upper margin, not touching text; several more creased across one corner; one page with light smudges, pages otherwise clean. A simultaneously disturbing and amusing look at quack medicine of the 19th century.  (35120)

Neat gift inscription on front free endpaper: “Mollie, with Ada's love. 898.”

•  Publisher's light blue cloth, front cover stamped in silver with images of the Washington Monument and the Capitol; author's name and title of work stamped in in gold within silver cartouches. Light wear to edges of boards and a little spotting; a Very Good copy.  (37010)

Provenance: With a tipped-in, printed slip reading “With the kind regards of The Author.”

•  Publisher's purple cloth, front cover and spine gilt-stamped; spine and edges sunned, back cover with its double layer of cloth partially torn through the top layer (interesting, as to binding structure). Front pastedown with institutional bookplate, preliminary leaf with early inked ownership inscription and pressure-stamp of a religious institution, title-page with small rubber-stamp. Pages clean. (20829)

Despite Hope's having been English and even knighted, this work was apparently never printed in England.

Binding:  Publisher's red cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped garden design, spine with gilt-stamped title. Signed binding: Front cover with monogram of a J crowned with E (unidentified designer).

•  Binding as above, cocked, with minimal rubbing to extremities. Front free endpaper with inked gift inscription dated Christmas 1904. A few corners bumped, one torn away. Pages very clean. A bright, pretty copy.  (29132)

•  BAL 9401. Green publisher's cloth, front cover stamped in white and gilt, spine with gilt-stamped title; clean and solid, with only very slight traces of wear to extremities. Front free endpaper with inked owner's name.  (16665)

Binding:  Publisher's green cloth elaborately stamped in gilt on front cover with an overall pattern of torches with bows, surrounding a central cartouche with the title and author in gilt.

•  BAL 9577 (for first edition).   Binding as above, lightly rubbed at base of spine, small area of minor discoloration on spine. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper, rubber-stamp on title-page, no other markings.  (26805)