THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK. An Agony, in Eight Fits
by Carroll, Lewis [pseudonym of C.L. Dodgson]
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Yarmouth, Maine, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
1876. With Nine Illustrations by Henry Holiday. London: Macmillan and Co., 1876. 1 page undated ads. Original deep red cloth pictorially decorated in black, all page edges gilt.
First Edition, special dark-red binding, which consisted of 100 copies. This is a poetical nonsense tale, both funny and subtle, that "describes with infinite humour the impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature" [WM&G]. The crew consists of a Bellman, a Bonnet-Maker, a Barrister, a Broker, a Billiard-Maker, a Banker, a Butcher, a Baker, a Beaver and (the only one not illustrated) "a Boots." In his dedicatory verse to Gertrude Chataway, Carroll hid the child's name twice. Standard copies were issued in buff-colored cloth (with the same elaborate pictorial decoration, but in black). According to WM&G, "It is doubtful whether any variant coloured bindings were for sale, other than buff or red; the other colours seem to have been bound specially for Dodgson, who wrote to Macmillan on 21 Mar. 1876 ordering: '100 in red and gold, 20 in dark blue and gold, 20 in white vellum and gold'..." (Dodgson had a few others bound just for himself, possibly in light blue, light green and dark green.) This is a very good-plus copy, with (as usual) some wear at the spine ends; the covers have some rubbing, but the original endpapers are not cracked at all. In all, this is an attractive book, with the gilt standing out well against this dark red cloth. Williams Madan & Green 115.
First Edition, special dark-red binding, which consisted of 100 copies. This is a poetical nonsense tale, both funny and subtle, that "describes with infinite humour the impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature" [WM&G]. The crew consists of a Bellman, a Bonnet-Maker, a Barrister, a Broker, a Billiard-Maker, a Banker, a Butcher, a Baker, a Beaver and (the only one not illustrated) "a Boots." In his dedicatory verse to Gertrude Chataway, Carroll hid the child's name twice. Standard copies were issued in buff-colored cloth (with the same elaborate pictorial decoration, but in black). According to WM&G, "It is doubtful whether any variant coloured bindings were for sale, other than buff or red; the other colours seem to have been bound specially for Dodgson, who wrote to Macmillan on 21 Mar. 1876 ordering: '100 in red and gold, 20 in dark blue and gold, 20 in white vellum and gold'..." (Dodgson had a few others bound just for himself, possibly in light blue, light green and dark green.) This is a very good-plus copy, with (as usual) some wear at the spine ends; the covers have some rubbing, but the original endpapers are not cracked at all. In all, this is an attractive book, with the gilt standing out well against this dark red cloth. Williams Madan & Green 115.
Synopsis
If-and the thing is wildly possible-the charge of writing nonsense were ever brought against the author of this brief but instructive poem, it would be based, I feel convinced, on the line (in p.4)
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Details
- Bookseller
- Sumner & Stillman (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 15311
- Title
- THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK. An Agony, in Eight Fits
- Author
- Carroll, Lewis [pseudonym of C.L. Dodgson]
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Date Published
- 1876
- Keywords
- Illus; Humor
- Bookseller catalogs
- Verse; Humor;
Terms of Sale
Sumner & Stillman
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
Sumner & Stillman
Biblio member since 2009
Yarmouth, Maine
About Sumner & Stillman
Founded in 1980, Sumner & Stillman is a small family business providing personal service in the buying and selling of literary first editions of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) for over 30 years.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- Cracked
- In reference to a hinge or a book's binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate,...
- 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....
- Vellum
- Vellum is a sheet of specialty prepared skin of lamb, calf, or goat kid used for binding a book or for printing and writing. ...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- 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.
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...