The Gambler's Wife a novel in three volumes 1844 1st Edition

London: T.C. Newby, 1844. 1st Edition. 3/4 calf. no dustwrapper. 3 volumes 12mo. Scarce 1844 1st Edition in three volumes of Mrs Grey's The Gambler's Wife; much controversy surrounds the identity of the author of this and other novels to appear under the name of 'Mrs. Grey' - it's now generally assumed that works by writers of similar (and not so similar) names were all attributed to one writer; in the case of The Gambler's Wife, while the original attribution was to Elizabeth Caroline Grey, research has shown that the true author was most likely Catherine Maria Grey; moreover the life story of Elizabeth Caroline Grey has been revealed by Patrick Spedding (in the essay ""The Many Mrs Greys: Confusion and Lies about Elizabeth Caroline Grey, Catherine Maria Grey, Maria Georgina Grey and Others"") to be something of a fabrication; in any case this 1844 edition is exceedingly scarce (not in Sadleir, Wolff or Block); three-quarter calf with raised bands and gilt titling to spines, marbled boards; all volumes in much the same condition, with bookplates to front pastedowns, tanning to endpapers and text block, medium-heavy foxing throughout, occasional loss to corners/edges of some pages (rarely), one page loose (and crudely taped-in) to volume 3, occasional stains/blotches in text; leather and boards fairly heavily rubbed and scuffed, with some chips out of marbling, and some minor loss to leather, leather split at hinge (top 3 inches) volume 3.