Ragged Dick; in The Student and Schoolmate Illustrated Monthly

Boston: Joseph H Allen, 1867. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. 12 vols. in 1. 1st appearance anywhere, complete in 12 issues of The Student and Schoolmate Illustrated Monthly, vol. XIX no. 1 through vol. XX no. 6 (January - December 1867). The original, dozen, monthly parts bound by the publisher in cloth, preceding the common, 1868, 1st book edition, published by Loring, the uncountable reprints of it, and the hundreds of attempts to replicate it by Alger and others. Original cloth, a small chip at the spine's base, the odd few pages toned, but get over it. This is a very good, unrepaired copy of a rare book in original cloth (no copies listed on RBH) and as American as apple pie, but these days, that'd be frozen apple pie, with a slice of processed cheese on top. Ref: Grolier 100 American, no. 75. Ralph Gardner, 445, saying, Ragged Dick was not the author's first book, as is widely believed, but it is the story that launched him as an all-time best-selling author. You say you like your books important? Ok. Here's the prototype of all rags to riches novels, and the formula for the American Dream. Alger coyly defines success as more achievement than expectation, implying that the inverse is the definition of failure. Take note of that inverse and veil your prospects.