The Descendant [First Issue]

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1897. First Edition. Decorative Cloth. Fine-. First Printing of Glasgow's first book in first issue binding (author's name not on spine and single imprint on title page). Small 8vo: [4],276,[8]pp. Publisher's green and brown art deco pictorial cloth, covers and spine ornamented in gilt with flowers and swirls; spine and upper cover lettered in gilt. Very slight browning to front end sheets, upper half of spine lightly speckled, else a firmly bound, bright, clean copy. Wright 2190. Fullurton, p. 114. Johnson and Blanck, p. 204. Glasgow published 20 novels, including five bestsellers, and won the Pulitzer prize in 1942. Before she died, she had won every major award for fiction except the Nobel prize. This, her first novel, was written in secret and published anonymously when she was 24 years old. She destroyed part of the manuscript after her mother died in 1893. Publication was further delayed after her brother-in-law and mentor, George McCormack, died the following year. The novel features an emancipated heroine who seeks passion rather than marriage. Although it was published anonymously, her authorship became known the following year, when her second novel, Phases of an Inferior Planet, announced on its title page, "by Ellen Glasgow, author of The Descendant." N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable polypropylene sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).