General Santa Anna's Ghost The Story of a Revenant which is actually true
by SWANN, Edward-Gibbon
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Holt, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Burgess Hill, Sussex Charles N Blanchard 1894, 1894. Fourth edition (but actually first and only edition - Worldcat records only this edition, sixteen of them. Presumably Swann wanted readers to think that his work was so successful that it was frequently republished). 8vo. 210x135mm. pp. [iv], 426. Red calf, upper and lower boards decorated with gilt borders inside which is a roll tooled border with leaves, flowers and plants. Spine with five raised bands. Compartments lavishly decorated in gilt save for second and third compartments with green labels lettered in gilt. All edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Slight rubbing to the joints and to head and foot of spine but overall in very good condition and internally near fine. In the centre of the upper cover is a gilt floral cross design around which is stamped in gilt "Hofwyl" "Mont' Emaro". Hofwyl was the name of a set of Swiss technical schools one of which was attended by the author, Edward-Gibbon Swann and Mont'Emaro is referred to in the prologue (which contains a brief, breathless biography of the author) as a Division of the Piedmontese Army in which Swann fought. It seems therefore that this copy was bound for Swann and, indeed, the publisher and printer, Charles Blanchard, was also a bookbinder so it was probably bound by him. As well as leading a cosmopolitan and adventurous life, Swann (who claimed to be the Grand-Nephew of the historian Edward Gibbon, hence his ludicrous double-barrelled Christian name) was a prolific writer, a magistrate and county cricketer, representing Kent. General Santa Anna is Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the central figure of nineteenth century post-independence Mexican politics. He was president of Mexico eleven times over a period of twenty two years; he commanded the Mexican troops at the Battle of the Alamo but ultimately lost Texas to America; he was married twice turning up to neither wedding but asking his father in law to stand proxy for him. Oh, and he was followed everywhere by a ghost. Which is the starting point for this bizarre, somewhat extravagantly produced book.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Voewood Rare Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 3592
- Title
- General Santa Anna's Ghost The Story of a Revenant which is actually true
- Author
- SWANN, Edward-Gibbon
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Burgess Hill, Sussex Charles N Blanchard 1894
- Date Published
- 1894
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
Voewood Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Voewood Rare Books
Biblio member since 2018
Holt, Norfolk
About Voewood Rare Books
Simon Finch has been a Rare Book Dealer since 1980. He has had shops in Notting Hill Gate, Mayfair and Holt, Norfolk. His firm has handled a wide variety of material from the First Folio of Shakespeare to the wilder shores of the counterculture and everything in between. In 1998, Simon bought Voewood, one of the finest Arts and Crafts and houses and brought it back to life with an eight-year programme of renovation and restoration. Voewood Rare Books, which operates from Voewood, is the continuation for Simon of a long career in the book trade. It also represents an important link with the House. Voewood is always beautiful, surprising, mysterious and perhaps a little disorientating and we aim to bring something of this spirit to the bookshop. Whilst our focus in on the visual arts, literature and the counter-culture, we deal also in a broad range of antiquarian and modern rare books across all subject areas. Our collection can be found here at Biblio and on our website. We are open by appointment and can always be contacted by email.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Raised Band(s)
- Raised bands refer to the ridges that protrude slightly from the spine on leather bound books. The bands are created in the...
- Worldcat
- Worldcat is a collaborative effort produced by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) and supported and used by 72,000 libraries...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- A.N.
- The book is pristine and free of any defects, in the same condition as ...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...