Sold by Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.
Association Member:
AbeBooks Seller since March 21, 2000
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
183 x 112 mm. (7 1/4 x 4 1/2"). 4 (ads), iv, 322 pp. Early 20th century polished calf, covers with double gilt fillet border, rosette cornerpieces, smooth spine divided into panels by chain roll, two panels with gilt bird dangling a flower garland from its beak, two panels with repeating dotted lines and cresting rolls, two with red morocco labels, gilt-rolled turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. WITH A CUSTOMS DOCUMENT SIGNED BY HAWTHORNE (dated 2 April 1849) bound in before first page of ads. BAL 7600; Clark A.16.1. Half a dozen faint scratches to calf, occasional minor spots or smudges, but A FINE COPY, clean and fresh internally, in a virtually unworn binding. A lot of "firsts" here: our copy of the first edition, first issue of Hawthorne's first important novel--which is generally recognized as the first major American work of fiction--comes with evidence that the first great American novelist was once a struggling writer. Described by Day as "Hawthorne's masterpiece and one of the world's greatest novels," "The Scarlet Letter" (Hawthorne's second publication, after the 1828 anonymously published "Fanshawe") probes the nature of sin, guilt, repentance, and salvation. Set in Salem in the early years of the Massachusetts Colony, the story tells of the scarlet "A" (standing for "adultery") embroidered on the dress of Hester Prynne, and the secret "A" searing the heart of her child's father, the seemingly saintly Reverend Dimmesdale. According to ANB, "Hawthorne's tightly plotted, densely symbolic, and psychologically probing story of concealed and revealed sin in seventeenth-century Boston is his most serious work of moral and cultural history. In his day as in ours, readers struggle to understand its main characters in the context of a repressive society. Arguably, Hawthorne's greatest achievement is his heroine, Hester Prynne." One of the major figures in the history of literature in the United States, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64) was among those who first inspired the idea of "American literature," a national literature that could take its place alongside its well-established European forebears. Probably more than any other writer of stature in 19th century America, Hawthorne combined vivid imagination with careful, structured craft. And yet our volume contains a signed custom house document, a relic from the days when Hawthorne was unable to make his living by writing alone. As ANB notes, Hawthorne's political appointment to the position of surveyor of the Salem Custom House in April 1946 "relieved [his] immediate financial worries." Fortunately, just a year after he signed the document here, publication of this novel allowed him the financial freedom to leave Salem behind forever. Hawthorne was helped by his best friend Franklin Pierce (later U.S. president) and other Democratic Party friends to get the job, but when the Whig Party took over Washington in 1848, he lost his position. According to the Salem Maritime website, "He turned the pain, anger, and betrayal he felt into his first great novel . . . . In the introduction to the novel, he describes the Salem Custom House and pretends to find the story among the papers of a previous surveyor." The document here is one very appealing addition, and the book's (unsigned but very fine) binding is another especially desirable feature. FIRST EDITION, First Issue, with advertisements dated March 1, 1850, and with the misprint on p. 21, line 20 "reduplicate" for "repudiate.".
Seller Inventory # ST20332
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