TEKLA: A ROMANCE OF LOVE AND WAR

Barr, Robert [1849-1912]

Published by International Book and Publishing Company, 1899

About this Item

Special Limited Edition. Thick 12mo. [7]2-437p. Grey cloth blocked with a thick green line and with letters in black on the front cover and the spine, with a floral design in green on the front cover and a sword in green on the spine. Covers quite soiled and coming loose from the textblock, a great deal of hand writing on the blank pages at the beginning (see description below), numerous black and white photos tipped in at various places in the text with accompanying handwritten text, previous owner's signature on front free endpaper and bookplate on front pastedown [Edward Thomarson], stamp to front pastedown of J.N. Mathias Bookseller, La Mars, Iowa, else good to very good. No dust jacket. This is a most curious copy because of the handwritten material at the beginning and the photos tipped in. Edward Thomarson (1865-1936) was a businessman in Le Mars, Iowa. He emigrated from England with his wife Margaret Weddell. In the family tree on Ancestry, someone had written, "Edward Thomarson was believed to be the illegitimate son of the Duke of Buccleuch." Handwritten on ffep (in different handwriting from Thomarson): "after the Archer came one Willie and one Ray who read the account of the Countess Tekla's woes & triumphs with avidity. For thrice now they traveled o'er the same ground though some 700 years after. But ash or crossbow had they none, and only a curious empire (?) of offenses [unreadable] "Kodak" with which they did woefully pester the landscape. [Unreadable] most strange [unreadable] this curious empire (?) is that it securest not only the whole of the person upon whom it be directed but [unreadable] of the country surrounding him, as witness the spoils which have been placed between the pages of this book by these new Archers (?) the loving sister and brother of the books' owners." (I have not been able to identify these people with certainty.) "The Archer" who wrote the first inscription was unlikely to be the author. Robert Barr (1849-1912) was born in England, lived in Canada and the U.S., and ended his days in his native country. He was a journalist and author of short stories, novels, and non-fiction which had popular appeal. He is thought to have concluded Stephen Crane's unfinished novel THE O'RUDDY (1903). The photos tipped in at various points seem to illustrate places mentioned in the story, as the handwritten inscriptions near them suggest. A very interesting copy for any collector of Robert Barr!. Seller Inventory # 009106

Bibliographic Details

Title: TEKLA: A ROMANCE OF LOVE AND WAR

Publisher: International Book and Publishing Company

Publication Date: 1899

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Good

Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket