366 pp., blank. Double frontispiece (including portrait), with tissue-guard, plus numerous wood engravings throughout. (8vo) original decorative green cloth, stamped and lettered in gilt and black. Housed in a custom full green morocco clamshell box by Papuchyan Bindery with a the front cover of the book closely duplicated on the front of the box. First American Edition.
Exhibiting the following issue points: the illustration captioned "Him and another Man" [p.13] listed as p.88 (first state); 11th line from bottom of p.57 reads "...with the was..." (first state); p. 283 is a cancel, with corrected engraving (third state), the final 5 in p.155 is replaced and is slightly larger than the rest (third state); leaf 23-8 is present as a blank, second state of the frontispiece portrait (imprint of Heliotype with tablecloth not visible). BAL 3414. SIR HUGH WALPOLE'S COPY, with his inscription stating that this is one of his top five favorite books and that he purchased it from the legendary Los Angeles bookman, Jake Zeitlin, on September 4, 1934. THE SECOND EARLIEST KNOWN, OF DATED PRE-PUBLICATION COPIES (1884) the 1884 gift inscription is to S. W. Field, one of the founders of Santa Cruz, California and it was he who was appointed the first police chief in 1867. The second earliest known of the first American copies issued; the earliest is the Charles L. Webster copy, which is dated November 26, 1884 and sold at Christie's in 2004 for $265,000; tied for second place is Livy Twain's copy, also dated Christmas 1884, and sold at Sotheby's in 1991 for $99,000. The New York Herald of 29 November, 1884, quotes Charles Webster as saying, "But 250 copies left the office [for California] ." The present copy is, doubtless, one of those copies. Walpole's Brackenburn bookplate on front pastedown, a later owner's modern bookplate on front free endpaper.
Condition:
A fresh, bright copy, with occasional light foxing to preliminaries and front hinge with a minor repair; near fine in a fine custom box.