Rare Book
Tuesday, 23 April - Thursday, 9 May 2024

Austen Jane - Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (4 Volumes)

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Lot Details

By The Author Of "Pride And Prejudice," " Mansfield Park," etc. With A Biographical Notice Of The Author. John Murray, London, 1818. Condition; general conditions throughout, scuffed boards, foxing, staining and dirt marks, occasional creasing where pages were folded. Each volume is inscribed on the upper fly-leaf by what looks like I. B. Stewart, Delliefure (Scotland) 1921. Each title page is signed A. G. Stevenson, 1818. Volume 1 is complete, though the half-title Northanger Abbey is damaged on the fore-edge (leaf A11). There is some underlining on pages 163 and 164, with a related comment along the outer margin on page 163 that reads :The world has not changed one whit 1921" presumably written by Stewart. Leaf L6 is slightly damaged on the lower edge near the inner margin. Volumes II to IV are incomplete, each lacking their half-title. Volume II, 14 similar damage to the leaf as L6 in Vol I. Looks to be slightly folded under. O1 has what might be called an unidentified accretion in the upper right corner. Volume III, K11 and K12, minor chipping, L6 and L7 another unidentified accretion, appears oil based. Volume IV, H10 torn and missing part of fore-edge but no loss to the text. Written on the verso of the final blank is :a grand story", which looks to be Stewart again. 19th century half leather bindings and although not the original (would have been paper covered boards) and later ,certainly not by much. An exceptionally rare, iconic and complete first edition, completed in 1803, the first of Austens novels completed in full but published posthumously in 1817 with Persuasion. We are indebted to Anthony Tedeschi, Head of Rare Books & Manuscripts at The Alexander Turnbull Library for his assistance in collating the set.

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