Happy Birthday, Pride and Prejudice

by Stephen J. Gertz

 Prejudice is the child of ignorance.
- William Hazlitt

We all decry prejudice, yet are all prejudiced.
- Herbert Spencer

It was pride that changed angels into devils...
- Saint Augustine

Pride, the never-failing vice of fools.
- Alexander Pope

I think Charley Pride has been one of the best things to happen to country music...
- Loretta Lynn.

Pride and prejudice are eternal but while pride made the list of deadly sins, prejudice, curiously, did not. It wasn't, evidently, considered a lethal enough transgression in the ancient world; you will look in vain for references to "prejudice" in ancient writings. It was not considered a fault worthy of comment. But Jane Austen thought differently, prejudice as harmful a social trespass as pride.

2013 is the bicentennial of Pride and Prejudice, Austen's second novel. It has, along with each of her other five novels, become a classic, and has sold some twenty-million copies since its initial publication on this day, January 28, in 1813. It is the rarest of all Austen novels to find complete in its first edition within a contemporary binding. Regency-era binders routinely removed the half titles; copies with all half titles present are scarce: Sadleir, Keynes, and Chapman's copies lacked them, and the half-titles are missing in the copies at the Bodleian and Cambridge University libraries. 

Half-title.

"The first draft of PP, under the title of First Impressions… (printed as False Impressions by Lord Braybourne)…was written between October 1796 and August 1797" (Gilson p. 23). Austen made significant revisions to the manuscript for First Impressions between 1811 and 1812. She later renamed the story Pride and Prejudice. In renaming the the novel, Austen probably had in mind the "sufferings and oppositions" summarized in the final chapter of Fanny Burney's Cecilia, called "Pride and Prejudice," where the phrase appears three times in block capitals. It is possible that the novel's original title was altered to avoid confusion with other works. In the years between the completion of First Impressions and its revision into Pride and Prejudice, two other works had been published under that name: a novel by Margaret Holford and a comedy by Horace Smith.

"It was not fully revised until 1812, and the author records on January 29, 1813, that she has successfully 'lop't and crop't' the book" (Keynes). Both Gilson and Keynes suggest that only 1500 copies of the first edition were printed. The book was published at 18 shillings in three volumes on  January 28th in 1813. Austen sold the copyright to Thomas Egerton, publisher of her first three novels, for £110, not anticipating that it would become an instant hit (if not a fully critical success), the first edition selling out very rapidly with a second edition issued in the same year.

I recently had an attractive and complete first edition copy of Pride and Prejudice pass through my hands. Though I cannot be certain, I strongly suspect that the "Charlton" gilt ownership stamp to its contemporary binding is that of Charleton House, Montrose, the home of feminist writer and philanthropist Susan Scott Carnegie (1744-1821) from her marriage in 1769 until her death in 1821.

Jane Austen is  one of the few authors whose entire oeuvre has attained classic status as masterpieces of ironic social satire streaked with proto-Feminism that have only increased in popularity since their publication.

Of Austen, Virginia Woolf wrote, "a mistress of much deeper emotion than appears upon the surface...[possessing an] impeccable sense of human values" (in The Common Reader, Hogarth Press, pp. 102, 104).

Jane, wherever you are, make a wish and blow out the candles on the cake without prejudice. This is your day; enjoy it with pride.

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[AUSTEN, Jane]. Pride and Prejudice: A Novel. In Three Volumes. By the Author of Sense and Sensibility. London: Printed for T. Egerton, Military Library, Whitehall,  1813.

First edition, following all points in Gilson and Keynes, and complete with all half titles present. Three twelvemo volumes (6 5/8 x 3 7/8 in; 168 x 97 mm). [iv], 307, [1, blank]; [iv],  239, [1, blank]; [iv, [323, [1, blank] pp.

Contemporary speckled calf, blind-tooled board edges, edges sprinkled red, original light brown endpapers. Expertly rebacked with the original spines laid down. Later green morocco gilt lettering labels on spines. Gilt stamped "Charleton" to upper boards of each volume.  Edges to a few leaves professionally and near invisibly repaired. Occasional light foxing. An excellent and complete copy in its original and contemporary binding.

Gilson A3. Keynes 3. Sadleir 62b.

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All images courtesy of David Brass Rare Books, currently offering this copy, with our thanks.

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Fashion Takes a Hike: Jane Austen in Drab Boards Walks the Runway at Sotheby's

by Stephen J. Gertz

The fashionable, glitzy, and glamorous world of rare books is rocked by the news that The Library of an English Bibliophile's collection of Jane Austen first editions will be seen in public wearing nothing but the dull, drab, and dreary publisher's original boards they were brought into the world with when they make their debut at Sotheby's in London, October 28, 2010.

Basil Tombstone-Epitaph, high society arbiter of taste, declared, "Books should be seen and not read. In outfits like this I'd rather be dead."

Collectors disagree. " I like my books like I like my women. Plain and simple on the outside, just like they were on the day they were born, readable on the inside," the mysterious English Bibliophile said.

The Mysterious English Bibliophile.
Artist sketch based upon witness sightings.

Indeed, first editions published during the Regency Period, their cheap bindings a scandal, are highly sought-after. The original buyers routinely took their copies to a binder and had simple-to-elaborate leather bindings made for them. Who knew that someday people would actually pay top dollar for the book as-is? Books in their original boards are rare; from this era, scarce.

A Celebrity-Only, Strictly on the Down-Low Sneak Preview was held in Sotheby's Sales Room in print. Booktryst was, of course, invited. Here's our report.

[AUSTEN, Jane]. Sense and Sensibility: A Novel. In Three Volumes.
By a Lady.
London: Printed for the Author, by C. Roworth, 1811.
Gilson A1. Keynes 1. Sadleir 62a.

Sense and Sensibility has never made more sense than in this sober frock. Three for the price of one! Quarter warm cream over misty-blue paper-covered cardboard with irresistibly attractive paper spine labels in roseate cockatoo pink. Look at them - so very little loss, and all text intact and va-va-voom visible! A bit soiled but we like our books a bit soiled, it shows character; the book's been around, it knows a thing or two, if you know what I mean. Only seven copies in this garb have come to auction in the last thirty-five years. It's sensibly estimated to sell for $62,500 - $93,500. And, did I mention? Uncut!

[AUSTEN, Jane]. Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion:
By the Author of "Pride and Prejudice;" Mansfield Park," &c.
With a Biographical Notice of the Author. In Four Volumes.
London: John Murray, 1818.
Gilson A9. Keynes 9. Sadleir 62e.

Dear Northanger Abbey:

My husband has fallen in love with another book! Like you, it was completed in 1798 (or 1799) and then substantially revised over time until posthumously published in 1818. He's in love with a ghost! Whatever shall I do?  It's spooky! Literary Ectoplasm-Envy in Zanesville, OH.

Dear L.E-E.:

BOO! (Sorry).

Look no further than this fine copy of my autobiography, published together with "Baby Jane" Austen's Persuasion! Proletarian-chic grey-brown boards, original spine labels, with the rubbing, bumps, and spots you'd expect to see from schlepping through one collection to another over the past 192 years but rarely so charmant for the wear! The estimate of $31,200 - $46,700 is quite persuasive, n'est pas?

[AUSTEN, Jane]. Emma:  A Novel. In Three Volumes.
By the Author of "Pride and Prejudice."
London: Printed for John Murray, 1816.
Gilson A8. Keynes 8. Sadleir 62d.

Just because she stooped from her class to appear in this fashion disaster don't think Emma clueless! All things considered, look at how fresh and clean she looks. She really knows how to wear clothes, transforming these sad-rags into glad-rags. Sheer elegance! This is surely her finest outfit. Yes, a few flaws to her spine labels but I like my books the way I like my women, with scars. Saddle-stitched, a plus. Estimated at only $31,200 - $46,700, this plain Jane Emma is the  emmis!

[AUSTEN, Jane]. Pride and Prejudice: A Novel in Three Volumes.
By the Author of "Sense and Sensibility."
Printed for T. Egerton, 1813.
Gilson A3. Keynes 3. Sadleir 62b. Ticknor 204.

Don't let pride and prejudice allow you to judge this book by its cover! Funeral-wear. Vapid. Lifeless. Ennui, oui? Non, ma cher! Only two copies of this most popular and lasting roman in its birthday suit have come to auction since 1975. To a collector, Yves St. Laurent could not have dressed her better; trés chic! Rebound in contemporary calf, it's a $65,000 - $75,000 book. Here, in the original binding only a mother (or collector) could love, the estimate is $117,000 - $156,000. C'est magnifique! 

[BRONTË, Anne]. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall..
By Acton Bell. In Three Volumes.
London: T.C. Newby, 1848.
Smith 4. Parrish 91.

Jumping on the fashion bandwagon and bringing up the rear, the last word belongs to Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, from the looks of her way behind in rent and tenement-chic. But at least she has some cloth on her back! Feel free to hang your laundry on this copy, the only one in original boards to show its face at auction since Gerald Ford was president of the United States, Harold Wilson ruled Britannia, flared denim skirts ended just below the knee, bootboy parallel jeans stopped at mid-calf, and plumbers pants began at mid-butt. It's estimated to sell for $93,500 - $109,000. A rags to riches story!

The reaction from fabulous fashionistas was mixed.

Actress/trendster Chloe Sevigny in a fundamentalist Mormon blouse by J. Smith.
"I can take or leave the peasant look," she said. Then she left.

Vogue editor Anna Wintour and designer André Leon Talley
could not contain their enthusiasm.
"Take me to your leader," they each commanded a Sotheby's functionary.

"I like my books the way I like my women," fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld said.
"Nowhere near the bedroom.
But these could change my mind.
Now, take me to your leader!"

Actress and fashion designer wanna-be Lindsay Lohan,
in attendance on a pass from rehab and radiant in a J. Crew hoodie,
was intoxicated by what she saw.
"I take full responsibility for my actions," she seductively slurred
to this reporter before she was handcuffed and taken away.
"I'm blotto for books."

 Not to be outdone, James Boswell pushed that most reluctant of mannequins, the anti-poseur himself, Samuel Johnson, onto the runway for a pass before the press.

BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LLD.
Comprehending an account of his studies and numerous works,
in chronological order; A series of epistolary correspondence and
conversation with eminent persons; and various original pieces
of his compositions, never before published.
London: Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, 1791.
First edition, first issue (vol. 1, p.135, line 10, "gve for "give").
Pottle 79. Rothchild 463. Tinker 338.

Original blue-grey paper boards with cream paper spines later lettered in black ink, minor localized marginal worming in volume 1, sans initial blank leaf in volume 2, occasional light spotting or soiling to boards, joints cracking, extremities worn but who's complaining? It's just great  to see the old man out and about, even in this shabby suit and without the initial leaf to cover his privates.

"I like my books the way I like my women. Like friends: few, well chosen, and modestly attired," Samuel Johnson said.

Not exactly a Don Juanson, and spoken like a man who buys his books at J.C. Penny. But not at this estimate: $23,400 - $31, 200. That's a lot of pennies!

Too many other goodies falling under the hammer at this sale to list in their entirety. But yet another ne'er-do-well shows up in original drab  boards, appearing, like its author, tubercular.

KEATS, John. Poems.
London: (C. Richards) for C. and J. Ollier, 1817.
Ashley III, p. 9. Hayward 231.

Doesn't look like much but, wow, what a personality! Don't forget, Camille was a catch and her kisses were  sweet, if sanguine. Estimated at $32,200 - $46,700. Yet the fashion cognoscenti will notice that this modest little miss is missing a key accessory necessary to make her ensemble complete. With the called-for and wholly intact printed spine label it's a $100,000 book.

That wraps up our report on Sotheby's upcoming Library of an English Bibliophile sale. Next week, we're in Paris for Le Bibliothéque d'un Bibliophile Français Fou sale. Strict dress code enforced: Straight-jackets only. Dust jackets verboten.

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Images courtesy of Sotheby's. 

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Literary Action Figures to the Rescue!

by Stephen J. Gertz

"Dost thou desire a figurine of a man with sublime intellect
and sharp wit? Forsooth, thy dreams have taken shape!
'Tis a 5¼" (13.3 cm) tall, hard vinyl William Shakespeare
Action Figure with removable book and quill pen."

It's been a long, grueling day. Q: How can one take the edge off without intoxicants? A: Get in the playpen with these toys designed with the rare book lover in mind.

First Folio (in left hand) not included.

As accompaniment to the above, want to learn how to lose friends and salivate at the same time? Look no further than:

"Each set includes seven 1" (2.5 cm) tall boxes that look like miniature
Shakespeare volumes. Inside each box you'll find two fruit flavored gum
balls and an eloquent Shakespearean insult printed on the inside.
Sure to offend the intellectuals and confuse the dimwitted!"
 
"Thou art like a toad; ugly and venemous."

"You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian!
I'll tickle your catastrophe!"

"Thou clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool,
thou whores on obscene greasy tallow-catch!"

"You starvelling, you eel-skin, you dried neat's-tongue,
you bull's-pizzle, you stock-fish."

Of course, when it comes to rapier-wit and the devastating put-down, no one cut deeper than Oscar Wilde.

"Oscar Wilde was a writer and lecturer of great accomplishment,
but he is most famous for his comedic plays, quick wit and eccentric dress.
This 5-1/4" (13.3 cm) tall, hard vinyl action figure is dressed for a party
where Wilde will quickly cut all those around him to pieces
with barbed witticisms. Removable cane included!"

The Wilde One.
Beware the removable cane!

Say hello to the G.I. Joe of 19th century English literature:

"The novels of Charles Dickens captured the essence of Victorian society
so well that the entire period is often described as Dickensian.
To this day, none of his novels have ever gone out of print in England.
This 5-1/2" (14 cm) tall, hard vinyl action figure
comes with a quill pen and a removable hat!"

What appears to be a codpiece is not. Included.

The Case of the Unintentional Codpiece is one best left to the master of literary detection himself:

"Created by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes has become an icon of crime
detection and deductive reasoning. This 5-1/4" (13.3 cm) tall, hard vinyl action
figure comes with a removable magnifying glass and deerstalker hat. He even
has a pipe which fits snugly into his mouth to help him concentrate when
working on a particularly difficult case."
 Hypodermic needle and vial of .07% solution of cocaine not included.

Watson! I said magnifying glass, not tennis racket!

Jane Austen didn't get much action during her life. Time to make up for lost time with plenty of action now!

"Jane Austen was one of the greatest English novelists in history.
Despite a rather sheltered life, she was able to capture the subtleties
of human interaction so perfectly that her novels continue to be
 immensely popular to this day. This 5-1/4" (13.3 cm) tall, hard
vinyl action figure comes with a book (Pride & Prejudice) and
a writing desk with removable quill pen!" Zombies not included.

I'm hungry for zombies.

"Wreak havoc on your sister's precious diorama with this
Flesh Eating Zombie Play Set! Each set includes nine
1" (2.5 cm) to 3-1/4" (8.3 cm) tall, hard vinyl zombies,
 complete with blank stares, gaping mouths, open wounds
and missing limbs! Turn off the lights and they glow!
Fantastic undead fun for the whole family!"

What collection of literary action figures would be complete without representation by the profession that so often leads us into literature?

"If you just can't get enough of the Dewey decimals or if you
go bananas for books, chances are you have a Librarian Action Figure.
Nancy Pearl's likeness made history as the best selling Librarian Action
Figure of all time, but the true collector needs this Deluxe Edition.
Each 5" (12.7 cm) tall, hard vinyl figure is dressed in a stylish burgundy
outfit and comes in a library diorama with a reference desk, computer,
book cart, multiple book stacks and some loose books. Press the button
on her back for the infamous 'amazing shushing action!'"

"Amazing Shushing Action" or simply "Aren't I cute"pose?

Why would adults want to own literary action figure toys, however literary their action figures into play? Ask the litterateur-analyst:

"Each 5" (12.7 cm) tall, hard vinyl action figure captures Freud
in a pensive pose, holding a distinctly phallic cigar. Put him on
your desk or nightstand to inspire you to explore the depths of
your unconscious and embrace the symbolism of your dreams."
Couch not included.

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

I'm a grown man so I'm finally throwing out my pail and shovel and moving up to these toys.

"The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground."
G. K. Chesterton

"Play is the exultation of the possible"
Martin Buber

"To live is to play at the meaning of life...The upshot of this . . . is that it teaches us once and for all that childlike foolishness is the calling of mature men."
Ernest Becker - The Denial of Death

"We don't stop playing because we turn old, but turn old because we stop playing"
attributed to Satchel Paige

"Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time."
-T. S. Elliot

"Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness."
- Mary Satton
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All  toys, quoted product text, and images from Accoutrements.
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Product Placement Discovered in 19th Century British Novels

Back in the Saddle Again!
Inspiriting Action!
Feeling Better than Ever!
Neurasthenia a Bad Memory!
Men. Who Needs Them?

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Get Ready for Ads in Books, with the drop in e-reader prices, tech players entering the book retail trade, and the ever-downward pressure on book prices, e-book or otherwise, publishers, facing diminishing profits, are turning to product placement in books to bolster their sagging bottom lines.

This should not come as a shock; television, movies, and video games have been planted with product advertisements for quite some time now. It's been a veritable Victory Garden for the Mad Men of Madison Avenue.

What is little known is just how far back this practice dates. Recently, the Annenberg Center for Communication, established to cleanse  the family name of patriarch Moe Annenberg's  highly dubious activities, has been conducting a survey of nineteenth century British literature. To their surprise, they have, in the process, discovered advertising so subtly placed within classic texts that it has hitherto gone unnoticed by scholars and readers alike. Many of the ads, it has since been learned, were part of an ongoing campaign by Ogilvy & Mather, the ad agency originally established by Patrick Ogilvy and Cotton Mather in the 17th century, with offices in Edinburgh and Boston, to promote fire, brimstone, and treacle for everyday use in the home.

Below, a few examples. Read carefully. See if you can discern the advertisement so well-woven into the text as to be indivisible from it. Truly,  copywriting genius at work.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Chapter Three
I Have a Change

The carrier's horse was the laziest horse in the world, I should hope, and shuffled along, with his head down, as if he liked to keep people waiting to whom the packages were directed. I fancied, indeed, that he sometimes chuckled audibly over this reflection, but the carrier said he was only troubled with a cough. If only he’d given the horse Dr. Locock’s Pulmonic Wafers. They provide perfect freedom from coughs within ten minutes and instant relief and a rapid cure of asthma and consumption, coughs, colds, and all disorders of the breath and lungs. The carrier had a way of keeping his head down, like his horse, and of drooping sleepily forward as he drove, with one of his arms on each of his knees. I say 'drove', but it struck me that the cart would have gone to Yarmouth quite as well without him, for the horse did all that; and as to conversation, he had no idea of it but whistling.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Chapter Twenty-Two

Fanny, having been sent into the village on some errand by her aunt Norris, was overtaken by a heavy shower close to the Parsonage; and being descried from one of the windows endeavouring to find shelter under the branches and lingering leaves of an oak just beyond their premises, was forced, though not without some modest reluctance on her part, to come in. A civil servant she had withstood; but when Dr. Grant himself went out with an umbrella, there was nothing to be done but to be very much ashamed, and to get into the house as fast as possible. Oh, to have a W. & J. Sangster Alpaca umbrella! The superiority of Alpaca over every other material for Umbrellas being now generally acknowledged, W.&J. Sangster also always have a Stock of cheap Silk Umbrellas. The two sisters were so kind to her, and so pleasant, that Fanny might have enjoyed her visit could she have believed herself not in the way, and could she have foreseen that the weather would certainly clear at the end of the hour, and save her from the shame of having Dr. Grant's carriage and horses out to take her home, with which she was threatened.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Chapter Eight

"Look at me," said Miss Havisham. "You are not afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born?"

I regret to state that I was not afraid of telling the enormous lie comprehended in the answer "No."

"Do you know what I touch here?" she said, laying her hands, one upon the other, on her left side.

"Yes, ma'am." (It made me think of the young man.)

"What do I touch?"

"Your heart."

"Broken!"

She uttered the word with an eager look, and with strong emphasis, and with a weird smile that had a kind of boast in it. Afterwards, she kept her hands there for a little while, and slowly took them away as if they were heavy.

"I am tired," said Miss Havisham. "I want diversion, and I have done with men and women. Play."

I think it will be conceded by my most disputatious reader, that she could hardly have directed an unfortunate boy to do anything in the wide world more difficult to be done under the circumstances.

"I sometimes have sick fancies," she went on, "and I have a sick fancy for my Vigor's Horse-Action Saddle. It invigorates the system by bringing all the vital organs into inspiriting action! And I haven't had any action, inspiriting or otherwise, since the sun dawned upon the day you were born. There there!"

Silas Marner by George Eliot
Chapter Two

There were no lips in Raveloe from which a word could fall that would stir Silas Marner's benumbed faith to a sense of pain. In the early ages of the world, we know, it was believed that each territory was inhabited and ruled by its own divinities, so that a man could cross the bordering heights and be out of the reach of his native gods, whose presence was confined to the streams and the groves and the hills among which he had lived from his birth. And poor Silas was vaguely conscious of something not unlike the feeling of primitive men, when they fled thus, in fear or in sullenness, from the face of an unpropitious deity. It seemed to him that the Power he had vainly trusted in among the streets and at the prayer-meetings, was very far away from this land in which he had taken refuge, where men lived in careless abundance, knowing and needing nothing of that trust, which, for him, had been turned to bitterness. The little light he possessed spread its beams so narrow, that frustrated belief was a curtain broad enough to create for him the blackness of night. Would that he had a passel of Field’s “Ozokerit Candles” for brilliant light, safety, economy and reliability to burn the Star-Lit Nights!

His first movement after the shock had been to work in his loom; and he went on with this unremittingly, never asking himself why, now he was come to Raveloe, he worked far on into the night to finish the tale of Mrs. Osgood's table-linen sooner than she expected...

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Chapter Ten

When the typhus fever had fulfilled its mission of devastation at Lowood, it gradually disappeared from thence; but not till its virulence and the number of its victims had drawn public attention on the school. Inquiry was made into the origin of the scourge, and by degrees various facts came out which excited public indignation in a high degree. The unhealthy nature of the site; the quantity and quality of the children's food; the brackish, fetid water used in its preparation; the pupils' wretched clothing and accommodations--all these things were discovered, and the discovery produced a result mortifying to Mr. Brocklehurst, but beneficial to the institution: Frampton’s Pill of Health. This most excellent Family Medicine is the most effective remedy for Indigestion, Bilious and Liver Complaints, Sick Headache, Loss of appetite, Drowsiness, Giddiness, Spasms, and all Disorders of the Stomach and Bowels; and where an Aperient is required nothing an be better adapted.

Several wealthy and benevolent individuals in the county subscribed largely for the erection of a more convenient building in a better situation; new regulations were made; improvements in diet and clothing introduced; the funds of the school were entrusted to the management of a committee.

Dracula by Bram Stoker
Chapter Eleven
Dr. Seward’s Diary

Without an instant's notice he made straight at me. He had a dinner knife in his hand, and as I saw he was dangerous, I tried to keep the table between us. He was too quick and too strong for me, however, for before I could get my balance he had struck at me and cut my left wrist rather severely.

Before he could strike again, however, I got in my right hand and he was sprawling on his back on the floor. My wrist bled freely, and quite a little pool trickled on to the carpet. I saw that my friend was not intent on further effort, and occupied myself binding up my wrist, keeping a wary eye on the prostrate figure all the time. When the attendants rushed in, and we turned our attention to him, his employment positively sickened me. He was lying on his belly on the floor licking up, like a dog, the blood which had fallen from my wounded wrist. He was easily secured, and to my surprise, went with the attendants quite placidly, simply repeating over and over again, "The blood is the life! The blood is the life!"

Yes, indeed, For the Blood is the Life - Clarke’s World Famed Blood Mixture is warranted to cleanse the blood from all impurities, from whatever cause arising. For Scrofula, Scurvy, Sores of all kinds, Skin and Blood Diseases its effects are marvelous. Thousands of testimonials from all parts.

I cannot afford to lose blood just at present. I have lost too much of late for my physical good, and then the prolonged strain of Lucy's illness and its horrible phases is telling on me. I am over excited and weary, and I need rest, rest, rest. Happily Van Helsing has not summoned me, so I need not forego my sleep. Tonight I could not well do without it. If only I had some of Dr. J. Collis Browne’s Chlorodyne, the Original and Only Genuine. If you wish to obtain quiet refreshing sleep, free from headache, relief from pain and anguish, to calm and assuage the weary achings of protracted disease, invigorate the nervous media, and regulate the circulating systems of the body, you will provide yourself with that marvelous remedy discovered by Dr. J. COLLIS BROWNE (late Army Medical Staff), to which he gave the name CHLORODYNE, And which is admitted by the Profession to be the most wonderful and valuable remedy ever discovered.

Vanity Fair 

by William Makepeace Thackeray
Chapter Twenty

The idea of hitting his enemy Osborne such a blow soothed, perhaps, the old gentleman: and, their colloquy presently ending, he and Dobbin parted pretty good friends.

“My sisters say she has diamonds as big as pigeons’ eggs,” George said, laughing. “How they must set off her complexion! Surely she avails herself of Madame A.T. Rowley's Toilet Mask (or Face Gloves), a natural beautifier for bleaching and preserving the skin and removing complexional imperfections. It is soft and flexible in form, and can be worn without discomfort or inconvenience. A perfect illumination it must be when her jewels are on her neck. Her jet-black hair is as curly as Sambo’s. I dare say she wore a nose ring when she went to court; and with a plume of feathers in her top-knot she would look a perfect Belle Sauvage.”

• • •

Miss Belle Sauvage, "The Woman in the Toilet Mask"

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All products were real; the text for the advertisements copied verbatim.

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Hey, Rare Book Guy! What's With "All Half-Titles Present"?

Hey, Rare Book Guy:

From time to time I see "all half-titles present" in dealer catalogs. I'm a novice but I do know what half-titles are. I just don't understand why it's necessary to say "all half-titles present."

Why wouldn't they [be present]? Is this a stupid question?


JDH
Syracuse, NY


Dear JDH:

Your question is not stupid at all. It does, as a matter of fact, raise an important issue for collectors.

We all want our collectible books to be in the earliest state possible (first edition, first printing, first state of the dust jacket, etc.) and complete with all called-for leaves but sometimes the  standard practices of the past come back to vex us in our quest for perfect copies with no excuses.

Until the 1840s it was routine for books to be published in plain, drab boards with a label or in simple wrappers. And it was just as routine for buyers to purchase from a bookseller then walk down the street to a binder and have the book pulled from its inelegant binding and finely rebound in leather.

Commonly, when binders rebound the book the original blank leaves were excised. Sometimes they removed the half-title page, that simple leaf appearing just prior to the title page with only the title of the book and nothing else; it was not considered necessary to the integrity of the book, and collectors were no way near as obsessive as we've since become.

The practice of removing the half-title was absolutely routine during the British Regency period. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813) is a key example. A three-decker originally issued in plain blue paper boards with a brown paper spine and simple white title label, most copies that have survived were contemporaneously rebound in leather and lack the half-titles, which were tossed out.

As a consequence, a first edition copy of Pride and Prejudice with all three half-titles present is quite rare. If the copy is completely "straight" without any monkeying to "fix" it, (another topic altogether) it's a $50K-$80K book. Without the half-titles, the price plummets. This is true even if the copy is in the publisher's original, lackluster binding.

So rare is Pride and Prejudice with all half-titles present that the great bibliographer and collector Michael Sadleir did not have one, nor did Austen's bibliographer, literary scholar Sir Geoffrey Keynes.

Yeah, you want "all half-titles present."
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Have a question about an old or rare book? The Rare Book Guy is at your service. But first please read  the details.
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Booktryst's Oddball Book News Round-Up

 Anti-School Bookmarks Found In Library Books

Thousands of books on the shelves of public libraries in Portsmouth, Dover, and University of New Hampshire have been invaded by anti-public school themed bookmarks inserted by the School Sucks Project and Freedomain Radio, groups that are fiercely opposed to government-funded education in the United States. It is presumed that members of each group came from wealth and attended private schools that taught them to read and later distain public schools. Read it to believe it!

Beware, Naked Cheese Thief In Library Restroom

A fifty-two year old man was arrested for taking a bath in the restroom of the Main Branch of the Cincinnati Library. He was armed with knives - and four pounds of stolen Parmesan cheese; whether domestic or imported remains unknown. The knives' purpose, apparently, was to help cut the cheese. When have men ever needed a knife to cut the cheese in a bathroom? Read it to believe it!
 

Gen. Stanley McChrystal To Open Old Book Shop?

We've previously reported on very recently retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal's fondness for books and old book shops. Now, it seems, he may be contemplating a second career as perilous as his first: Opening an old and rare book shop. Should he have been given a Section Eight discharge? Will his black-ops experience help? (Probably). Blow taps for the General then read it to believe it!

 Note To Fans: No More Hauling Your Ashes To Jane Austen House

Louise West, the Jane Austen House Museum's collections manager, has had it with fans who wish to eternally rest at the residence of the undead-always-read authoress. "While we understand many admirers of Jane Austen would love to have ashes laid here, it is something we do not allow. It is distressing for visitors to see mounds of human ash, particularly so for our gardener..." But from such natural, nutrient-rich fertilizer roses shall bloom! This is not exactly news but the message  is  immortal. Read it to believe it! 
 

 

Judge Throws Book At Felon With Sentence To Write One - And Pay A Fine!

Cruel And Unusual Punishment Dept.: When former Big Pharma exec Dr. Andrew G. Bodnar plead guilty to making false statements to the Feds re: a patent dispute over the blood-thinner, Plavix, the judge in the case sentenced him to two years probation, fined him $5,000, and ordered him to write a book about life in legal drugs and this case in particular as a cautionary tale. Usually, when one has to pay $5,000 to write a book, it's called vanity publishing. Or, alas, scholarship. Read it to believe it!

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Booktryst readers are encouraged to submit odd, strange, bizarre, or just plain weird book news leads to our Metro Desk.

Thank you to American Libraries - Direct.

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First Edition of Jane Austen's "Emma" Sells For $489,747

A first edition of Jane Austen’s classic novel Emma has fetched £325,000 ($489,747) in a private transaction between Jonkers Rare Books of Henley-on-Thames, U.K., and a British collector.

Why the high price? It is the most spectacular presentation copy of the book known to exist.

There are presentation copies (a copy of a book given to someone by the author or publisher) and then there are presentation copies. This copy is a double-whammy jaw-dropper: a presentation and an association copy - a copy owned by someone with a relationship of some nature to the author. Here, the association is about as strong as can be found.

Published in 1816, this copy of Emma - a triple-decker (three volumes) in first edition - was presented to her friend, Anne Sharp, who was the model for Mrs. Weston (the former Miss Taylor) in the novel. It is inscribed "From the author" by the publisher (on fly-leaf of volume one), and with the signature of Anne Sharp (on the fly-leaf of each volume).

The two met when Sharp became governess to Austen's niece Fanny Knight, and remained lifelong intimates. Austen drew on "my dearest Anne's" experiences in creating Mrs. Weston, the governess in this story about the adventures of a young matchmaker blind to her own perfect match.

Christiaan Jonkers said that there had been several clients from around the  world who were considering the book but that he was pleased that it would remain in the U.K.

“The fact that it is the only presentation copy is also really something,” he said. It was bought by Jonkers at Bonhams in 2008 for a then-record of £180,000 ($271,294, including buyer's premium) and had subsequently been exhibited in Hong Kong, New York and San Francisco.

The rare-gigamonster end of the trade appears to be quite healthy.
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Thanks to iBookcollector.