Twice-Told Tales
Hard Cover. Boston: American Stationers Co., 1837. First Edition. Near Fine.
First edition, first state, with fifth story in collection listed in table of contents as starting on p. 78, though it actually starts on p. 77; 4pp. of ads at front of book and 16pp. of ads at rear. In a red morocco Sangorski & Sutcliffe binding, with boards and spine elaborately decorated and ruled in gilt, five raised bands to spine, top edge gilt, and marbled endpapers. Near fine, with light rubbing and splitting to binding at joints, and a touch of offsetting to endpaper margins. Overall, a gorgeously bound copy, very clean internally. Twice-Told Tales is a collection of eighteen short stories penned by Hawthorne, all of which were previously published in magazines (hence "twice-told"). The collection was Hawthorne's second book, published after his commercially unsuccessful debut, Fanshawe (1828). In 1842, an expanded edition of Twice-Told Tales was published. In his famous review of the work, Edgar Allen Poe wrote, "We look upon [Hawthorne] as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth." A short story writer for much of his writing career, Hawthorne achieved success as a novelist in the early 1850s, publishing The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851).
Item #NH039
Price: $1,500.00
