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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 1st edition. Very solid copy issued in green cloth with white titles. No dust jacket. Clean and tight. Illustrated by Harrison Fisher and Mayo Bunker. Full color frontispiece with tissue guard and b/w internal plates. The spine is speckled and the white titles are a bit faded. Gift inscription dated 1909 has been crossed out. Selling quality books for 35 years.
Published by Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1909
Seller: The Story Shop, Elwood, IN, U.S.A.
First Edition
Hardcover. Illustrated by Harrison Fisher & M. Bunker (illustrator). First Edition. Fine, some of the spine title flaking off. ; 354pp. ; 8vo.
Published by Bobbs Merrill, INDIANAPOLIS, 1909
Seller: MARIE BOTTINI, BOOKSELLER, Cotati, CA, U.S.A.
Book First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Good Plus. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. Harrison Fisher (illustrator). First Edition. Sturdy, square vintage copy in olive green boards with cream lettering partially rubbed at spine. With discreet owner's signature. Illustrated with black and white drawings and a color frontis by Harrison Fisher. Book is covered in a flawles facsimile dust jacket, so all flaws are hidden and it appears like new. A scarce title.
Published by The Bobbs-Merrill Company (c.1909), Indianapolis, 1909
Seller: ReadInk, ABAA/IOBA, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+ dj. Illustrated by Harrison Fisher, H.M. [Mayo] Bunker (illustrator). Early printing. [a lovely copy, minor wear to cloth at spine extremities, light dust-soiling to top edge; jacket is bright and attractive, with a little wear at corners, small tears at a couple of corners, tiny chip at bottom rear corner of spine]. (color frontis. + 2 color plates; line drawings) Rinehart had already made her name with her first two novels, "The Circular Staircase" (1908) and "The Man in Lower Ten" (1909) -- both mysteries -- when her hit Broadway farce "Seven Days" (co-written with Avery Hopwood) opened in November 1909. This novel appeared in bookstores mere weeks later, with ads touting it as the basis for the play (and rather blatantly trying to pass off excerpts from glowing reviews of the play as being in reference to the novel); I mention this only because the symbiotic connection between the two seems to have been pretty much lost to history, or at least to bibliographic history as practiced by various chroniclers of Mrs. Rinehart's work (who basically only care about her mystery fiction). The ads also tout it as "a Clever, Sprightly, Deliciously Humorous Mystery Novel," when in fact it is pretty much just a straight farce about a young woman who agrees to pose as the wife of a friend, who is unable to reveal the fact of his recent divorce for fear of offending his moneyed relatives and thus imperiling his inheritance. (Yeah, I know.) The novel is more interesting from a narrative standpoint, told as it is in the first person by the woman who's asked to be the pretend wife -- a spirited and rather no-nonsense type, given to observations like "I have always regarded divorce as essentially disagreeable, like castor oil, but necessary." The text is enlivened with three beautiful full-color plates by Harrison Fisher, one of the top illustrators of his day, and nearly fifty line drawings by Mayo Bunker (billed as "H.M. Bunker" on the title page). Not an especially rare book, but the jacket is uncommon, and it's a beauty. NOTE that most sources (including the Library of Congress) specify that the first edition had four color plates, while this copy has only three (including the frontispiece, for which the LC detailed record does NOT account). ALSO NOTE that other versions of the original Bobbs-Merrill jacket bear the legend "By the author of THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE and THE MAN IN LOWER TEN" at the top of the front panel, the present book has only "By the author of THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE"; possibly an earlier variant? (Both books, as noted, are blurbed on the rear jacket panel.) And FINALLY NOTE that the flaps of this jacket are plain gold, bearing no text, which may or may not be bibliographically significant. Enough NOTES, already!.
Published by Bobbs-Merrill Co, Indianapolis, 1909
Seller: Babylon Revisited Rare Books, Northampton, MA, U.S.A.
First Edition
First Edition. Harrison Fisher dustjacket art and illustrations. Contemporary romance novel by the author best known for her mysteries and her classic title, The Circular Staircase. Near Fine in nearly Very Good dustjacket, top spine end chipped, some small edge chipping, lower front panel with inch sized chip.
Published by Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1909
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. First edition. Illustrated by Harrison Fisher and Mayo Bunker. Small owner on title page, else near fine in an attractive, but fair only dustwrapper, with considerable chipping, particularly on the rear panel. Exceptionally uncommon in the Harrison Fisher-illustrated dustwrapper, which reproduces the frontispiece.
Published by Bobbs-Merrill Co, Indianapolis, 1909
Seller: Babylon Revisited Rare Books, Northampton, MA, U.S.A.
First Edition
First Edition. Harrison Fisher dustjacket art and illustrations. Contemporary romance novel by the author best known for her mysteries and her classic title, The Circular Staircase. Near Fine in Very Good dustjacket, few small edge chips and short closed tears, top spine end with moderate chipping.