THE MAGNETIC NORTH [Popular edition] With a pasted in note SIGNED from the author to fellow American actress of the period Mary Anderson de Navarro

First printing of the popular edition of this bestselling novel of the Klondike, published in London in 1909. The book was originally published by Heinemann in 1904. This copy comes with an important inscription, on paper pasted to the front free endpaper, from the author to a fellow American actress of the period "To Mary Anderson de Navarro - from Elizabeth Robins, in remembrance of the 8th October 1918". With a tissue-guarded frontispiece showing dogs and sled in the snow. ***Very good in olive-green decorated boards, with silver titles to the spine, and black titles with silver coin design to the front board. Boards nice and clean. The spine of the book has a vertical reading crease. Boards clean and unmarked.No tears to the cloth. No tears or splitting to the hinges. Spine tight. Internally near fine with very little foxing. ***387 pages. 184 mm x 125 mm. ***'Elizabeth Robins (Aug 6, 1862 - May 8, 1952) was an actress, playwright, novelist, and suffragette. She also wrote as C. E. Raimond. At the age of fourteen, Robins saw her first professional play (Hamlet) which ignited her desire to pursue an acting career. After arriving in New York, Robins soon met James O'Neill, who helped her join Edwin Booth's theatre and by 1882, she was touring. From 1882 to 1888, she had a successful acting career in America. ***In 1888, Robins moved to London. "Her move to London represented a rebirth after personal tragedy in America." Except for extended visits to the U.S. to visit family, she remained in England for the rest of her life. At a social gathering during her first week in England, she met Oscar Wilde. Throughout her career, he would come see her act and give her critiques. Early in her time in London, she became enamoured of Ibsen's plays. In 1891 a London matinée revival of "A Doll's House" put Robins in contact with Marion Lea. Together they formed a joint management, making this the "first step toward the theatre that Robins had dreamed of - a theatre of independent management and artistic standards." ***While Robins was busy being a successful actress, she had to leave England to look for her brother in Alaska, who had gone missing. Her experiences searching for her brother led her to write her novels, "Magnetic North" (written in 1904) and "Come and Find Me" (1908). ***She became a member of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, as well as the Women's Social and Political Union, although she broke with the WSPU over its increasing use of violent militancy. She remained a strong advocate of women's rights, however, and used her gifts as a public speaker and writer on behalf of the cause.' [Wiki] ***Of real interest to collectors of the work of Elizabeth Robins - an actress, playwright, novelist, and suffragette, and collectors of antiquarian literature. Also of interest to historians researching the Victorian gold rush. ***In 1900, Robins traveled alone to the gold rush camps of Alaska in search of her favorite brother Raymond Robins whom she feared was lost in the Yukon. After a long and arduous journey, she located Raymond in Nome. She shared his life in wild and lawless Alaska throughout the summer of 1900. Her adventures were not without cost – the typhoid fever she contracted at that time compromised her health for the rest of her life. Robins's tales about Alaska provided material for a number of articles she sent on to London for publication. Her best selling book, "The Magnetic North", is an account of her experiences, as is "The Alaska-Klondike Diary of Elizabeth Robins". ***A scarce inscribed copy of this interesting work. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc. …