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Monday, November 06, 2023

Monday, November 06, 2023 12:30 am by Cristina in , , , , ,    No comments
An upcoming auction (November 16) in Philadelphia with several Brontë rare editions:
Freeman's Auctions. 
The exhibition will be on view at our 1600 West Girard Avenue location on November 8 & 9 and November 13 to 15 from 10 AM to 3 PM, by appointment only.

Provenance
Collection of Katherine M. Reise, Oradell, New Jersey, Honorary American Representative of the Brontë Society, and Editor of the Brontë Newsletter

Lot 107: 

London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1849. In three volumes. First edition. 8vo. 16 pp. publisher's ads wanting in first volume. Contemporary three-quarter blue calf over marbled paper-covered boards, red morocco spine labels, stamped in gilt, boards, extremities, and joints rubbed; matching marbled edges and endpapers; scattered foxing to text; book-plate of Charles Conway on front paste-down of each volume. Parrish, p. 93; Sadleir 348; Smith 5; Symington, pp. 25-26

Lot 108:
[Bronte, Charlotte] Bell, Currer: Villette
Estimate: $1,200 - $1,800

London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1853. In three volumes. First edition. 8vo. Ads at rear of first volume dated January 1853. Publisher's brown cloth-covered boards, stamped in blind and in gilt, front board of first volume detached, spine starting on second volume, tear in rear joint of third volume, boards on each volume rubbed and variously faded; yellow endpapers; by Westleys & Co, and with their binder's ticket at bottom of rear paste-down in first volume; scattered soiling and spotting to text in each volume; wear in upper front gutter of third volume; loss at bottom corner, pp 267/268 in first volume, but not affecting text; small loss at bottom corner, pp. 275/276 in second volume, but not affecting text; pencil markings in margins of pp. 198-202, 230-231, and 234-245 in third volume; each in quarter blue morocco slip case and chemise. Smith 6

A handsome and unsophisticated copy of Charlotte Bronte's third and final novel, published on January 23, 1853.

Lot 109:

London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1857. In two volumes. First edition. 8vo. viii, 294, 2 (ads); (iv), 258, (2) pp.; with half-title in each volume; without 16 pp. ads at rear of second volume (Smith notes this may not be found in all copies). Three-quarter crimson morocco over red linen-covered boards, stamped in gilt; top edges gilt; marbled endpapers; by Bayntun; scattered light spotting to text in each volume. Parrish, p. 96; Sadleir 347; Smith 7; Symington, p. 40
First edition of Charlotte Brontë's first novel. Originally written in 1846, The Professor dramatizes Charlotte's own time as a student and teacher in Brussels in the early 1840s. The book was repeatedly rejected by numerous publishers throughout 1847, but was more warmly received by publisher Smith, Elder. Although they ultimately rejected it, they encouraged Charlotte to send a longer work for their consideration. That August she sent them her manuscript for her most acclaimed and enduring novel, Jane Eyre. The Professor would not be published until two years after her death in 1855.

Lot 110:
(Brontë, Emily): Wuthering Heights
Estimate: $800 - $1,200

New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1848. First American edition. 8vo. 288 pp. Contemporary three-quarter tan calf over marbled paper-covered boards, black morocco spine label, stamped in gilt, boards and extremities rubbed and lightly worn, head of spine chipped; all edges trimmed; remnants of contemporary book-plate on front paste-down; foxing to text. Smith 3, pp. 74-75; Symington, p. 100
A lovely copy of the rare first American edition of Emily Brontë’s enduring masterpiece, her only novel. Published in April, 1848, and preceded by the first edition published in London five months earlier, in December, 1847. First published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, this edition falsely attributes the author to Emily’s sister, Charlotte Brontë, “The Author of Jane Eyre”. It would not be until 1850, with the publication of Charlotte’s Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell, that Emily’s authorship was revealed—more than a year following her untimely death from consumption at age 30, in December, 1848.
Wuthering Heights was published simultaneously in cloth and in paper covers on April 21, 1848. Both bindings contain the original printed sheets, this copy rebound from the cloth issue.

Lot 111:

Two Proof Copies of the First Appearance of “The Outcast Mother” from The Cornhill Magazine
(London, ca. 1860). Two sheets, 8 1/8 x 5 1/8 in. (206 x 130 mm) and 8 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. (222 x 140 mm). Two printed proof copies of Emily Brontë's poem "The Outcast Mother", from The Cornhill Magazine. One sheet with printed title at top. Creasing and scattered light wear to each sheet. In quarter tan morocco over green cloth fall-down-back box and chemise.

Group of two rare printed proof copies of Emily Brontë's poem "The Outcast Mother", for publication in The Cornhill Magazine. First composed by Brontë in Haworth on July 12, 1839 under the title "A Farewell to Alexandria," magazine editor William Makepeace Thackeray obtained a transcript of the poem around 1860 from Arthur Bell Nicholls, husband of Charlotte Brontë and at the time owner of the Brontë sister's manuscripts. The original manuscript poem is found in Emily Brontë's Gondal Manuscript (No. 22), now held in the British Museum. The poem was first published posthumously (Emily died in 1848) in the May, 1860 (Vol. I, p. 616) issue of the magazine.

Lot 112:

London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1846 (but 1848). First edition, second issue (as usual). 12mo. iv, 165, (1) pp.; errata slip bound in at front; without 16 pp. of ads found in some copies. Contemporary three-quarter green morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, stamped in blind and in gilt, boards and extremities rubbed; all edges trimmed; book-plate of James W. Hazlehurst on front paste-down. Smith 1, pp. 6-14; Parrish, p. 82
Originally published in May, 1846, by Aylott and Jones of London, only a few of the 1,000 printed copies were sold or distributed, with the remaining sheets and binding cases put into storage. In September, 1848, on the heels of the success of Jane Eyre, publisher Smith, Elder purchased the languishing stock. In October of that same year, they published this second issue with a new cancel title-page, but retained the original date. Only 39 copies of the first issue were sold or distributed, making it practically unobtainable today.

Lot 113:

Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1848. First American edition. 12mo. iv, (13)-176 pp.; without the 24 pp. ads at rear, only found in a few copies. Publisher's pale green paper-covered boards, spine perished, boards lightly soiled; all edges trimmed; contemporary ownership signature in pencil on front paste-down and on title-page; small crease to bottom corners of pp. 137-146. Smith 1, pp. 14-15
First American edition, published on August 12, 1848, and preceding the second English issue.

Via Fine Books & Collections

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