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185 x 120 mm. (7 1/4 x 4 3/4"). viii, 332, 4 pp., [8] leaves (ads). Fine crimson morocco by Bayntun-Riviere (gilt signed on the front turn-in), covers gilt-ruled, raised bands, spine with gilt-ruled compartments and gilt lettering, wide turn-ins, all edges gilt. Original front cover bound in. Beinecke 487; Slater, p. 25. A VIRTUALLY MINT COPY. This is an attractively bound and perfectly preserved copy of the first printing of one of Stevenson's later stories, an historical tale of a feud between two brothers brought on by the Jacobite Uprising of 1745. According to DNB, this novel "is thought by many to take the first place among its author's romances, alike by vividness of presentment and by psychologic insight." Day is enthusiastic in his praise as well, saying that our work "almost rises to novelistic stature," high compliment for a writer that in America has mostly been relegated to the category of a "young adult" author. It was initially serialized in Scribner s Magazine between November of 1888 and October of 1889, and first published in book form, as here, in the autumn of 1889. The very lustrous, well-made binding was executed by a venerable English workshop. Founded in Bath in 1894, the Bayntun bindery has provided beautiful bindings for bibliophiles for more than a century. In 1937, Bayntun acquired the Riviere bindery, which had been in business since 1829, and began signing its bindings "Bayntun-Riviere," as it is here. It is now the last of the great Victorian trade binderies still in family ownership. While not a rare book, this classic Stevenson story is very infrequently found as attractive as it is here.
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