Washington Irving: A Sketch
Price: $275.00
Hard Cover. New York: The Grolier Club, 1891. First Edition. Near Fine.
Illustrated with two plates. First edition. One of 344 copies printed on handmade paper. Publisher's red morocco binding, with Grolier Club insignia in gilt to front board, board edges triple-ruled in gilt, five raised bands to spine, with spine lettered and ruled in gilt, top edge gilt, and brown endpapers. Near fine, with bright gilt, light rubbing to spine ends, some black ink staining to spine, corners, and a tiny spot to front board, a few nicks to spine bands, bookplates of Edwin B. Holden (seventh president of the Grolier Club and founding member of the Club bindery) and George A. Zabriskie (former New York Historical Society president) to front pastedown, and clean and untoned pages. With messages from the Grolier Club laid in, including an internal message from Secretary S. W. Marvin about Washington Irving not being ready for delivery until Jan. 20, 1892. Overall, a tight and attractive copy. In this book, George William Curtis writes about the life of the great 19th century American author, Washington Irving. Perhaps the most notable of Washington's works is The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. A collection that Irving published serially between 1819 and 1820, The Sketch Book includes two of the first, and most influential, short stories in American history, "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." George William Curtis (1824 - 1892) was a 19th century author, essayist, and orator. In his illustrious life, he lived at Brook Farm with Emerson and Thoreau, traveled the world and wrote travelogs like Nile Notes of a Howadji (1851) and The Howadji in Syria (1852), and, later in life, was appointed chairman of the commission on civil service reform by Ulysses S. Grant (1871). This copy was formerly owned by Edwin B. Holden, who served as president of the Grolier Club in 1906. Holden also co-founded the Club Bindery (1895 - 1909), which was created "in order to make available in America craft binding qualitatively competitive with European artisans" and was closely linked to the Grolier Club (Grolier Club). George A. Zabriskie was a Grolier Club member who served as the president of the New York Sons of the Revolution and of the New York Historical Society. Item #WI023
