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The Marble Faun: Or, The Romance of Monte Beni.
by Hawthorne, Nathaniel
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
San Francisco, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1860. 12mo, 2 vols.: (xiv), (15)-283; (1)-284 pp. each vol. with 2 terminal blanks. 16pp. publisher’s catalogue dated March 1860 inserted at the end of Vol. 1. Original blind-stamped publisher’s cloth, brown coated endpapers; cloth rubbed, tips worn; vol. 1 backstrip ends slightly chipped; vol. 2 cloth bubbled, backstrip ends chipped, 1.5 inch split in the cloth of the lower joint, hinges cracked and some signatures separating. Book plate of Frank House Baer in vol. 1,monogram bookplate of Annie Burr Jennings on front free endpaper of both vols. with motto “Otium sine literis mors est” (leisure without literature is death). Slipcase. § First American edition, third printing per BAL 7621 and Clark A23.3.c (pages numbered as for the first printing but bound in 12s; no conclusion). An unsophisticated copy of Hawthorne's romance published in England with the title Transformation: Or the Romance of Monte Beni. The monogram bookplate is that of Annie Burr Jennings (1855-1939), the New York philanthropist and heir to a Standard Oil fortune. A serious book collector, over 3000 volumes from her collection were donated to Yale in 1940 by her niece Annie Burr Auchincloss, wife of Wilmarth "Lefty" Lewis.
Synopsis
The fragility-and the durability-of human life and art dominate this story of American expatriates in Italy in the mid-nineteenth century. Befriended by Donatello, a young Italian with the classical grace of the "Marble Faun," Miriam, Hilda, and Kenyon find their pursuit of art taking a sinister turn as Miriam's unhappy past precipitates the present into tragedy. Hawthorne's 'International Novel' dramatizes the confrontation of the Old World and the New and the uncertain relationship between the 'authentic' and the 'fake' in life as in art. The author's evocative descriptions of classic sites made The Marble Faun a favorite guidebook to Rome for Victorian tourists, but this richly ambiguous symbolic romance is also the story of a murder, and a parable of the Fall of Man. As the characters find their civilized existence disrupted by the awful consequences of impulse, Hawthorne leads his readers to question the value of Art and Culture and addresses the great evolutionary debate which was beginning to shake Victorian society.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Marble Faun: Or, The Romance of Monte Beni.
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 110544
- Title
- The Marble Faun: Or, The Romance of Monte Beni.
- Author
- Hawthorne, Nathaniel
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Ticknor
- Place of Publication
- Boston
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller
5 day return guarantee, with full refund not including shipping costs for up to 5 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller
Biblio member since 2005
San Francisco, California
About John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller
John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller offers an exceptional selection of rare books and manuscripts from medieval times through the twentieth century; we specialize in illustrated material, particularly the work of William Blake and his circle. Located in downtown San Francisco, we have served an international clientele of private collectors, libraries, and institutions for 35 years. We are actively purchasing books and manuscripts in all fields, especially medieval illuminated and text manuscripts; material on California, Hawaii, and Pacific voyages; illustrated books and fine bindings from the 15th through the 20th century; and fine press printing. William Blake, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Thomas Frognall Dibdin remain special interests. We are members of the ABAA, ILAB, and PBFA, and we subscribe to the code of ethics endorsed by reputable antiquarian booksellers worldwide.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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,...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- BAL
- Bibliography of American Literature (commonly abbreviated as BAL in descriptions) is the quintessential reference work for any...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- 12mo
- A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...
- Plate
- Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e.,...
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