The Complete Works of Bret Harte

London: Chatto & Windus, 1890-1913. Leather. Very Good. 8" by 5". Various. A uniform leather bound set of Harte's works, 'The Complete Works of Bret Harte'. Francis Bret Harte (1836 – 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. "Irony with a realistic texture, yet softened by sentimentality, was the hallmark of Harte's style. Typical of his best fiction was his nativity parable "The Luck of Roaring Camp" (August 1868), published in the second issue of the Overland Monthly. In a mining camp a prostitute, Cherokee Sal, dies in childbirth, leaving an infant christened by the miners Thomas Luck. For the boy, who is being bottle-fed with ass's milk, they import a rosewood cradle. A metamorphosis begins. They wash, plant flowers, eschew profanity. The "Ingin" baby survives into spring, when melting snow and rain inundate the foothills. A flash flood sweeps away the cabin in which Kentuck, a miner, is sleeping with "The Luck" in his arms. Vanished also may be the brief moment of civilisation". (Stanley Weinstraub, ODNB) The volumes are entitled: Vol. 1: Poems and drama -- Vol. 2: Earlier Papers, etc. -- Vol. 3: Tales of the Argonauts etc-- Vol. 4: Gabriel Conroy -- Vol. 5: Stories and condensed novels -- Vol. 6: Tales of the Pacific slope I -- Vol. 7: Tales of the Pacific slope II -- Vol. 8: Tales of the pine and the cypress -- Vol. 9: Buckeye and chapparel -- Vol. 10: Tales of trail and town. In half calf bindings with marbled paper covered boards and gilt foredges. Externally, smart. There is some wear to the extremities including fading to the spine, slight bumping, some very small areas of loss and some markings. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are generally bright and clean with some volumes having the occasional handling mark or mild spot throughout, and some mild spotting to the first and last couple of pages of most of the volumes. The frontispiece of volume one has offset slightly onto the title page. Very Good