Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Thoreau, Henry D.. A WEEK ON THE CONCORD AND MERRIMACK RIVERS. Ticknor & Fields, Boston, 1862.
Price: US$4750.00 + shipping
Description: [6],[7]-413,[3]pp. Publisher's plum brown cloth (Borst's binding 2). Spine faded, with shallow frayed snag at crown, some sunning at edges with a faint, narrow diagonal discoloration in the upper fore-quadrant of the lower cover, very shallow discoloration at the top edge of the first three leaves, otherwise a very good copy. First edition, second issue, of Thoreau's first book. Thoreau originally paid for its publication in an edition of 1000 copies, of which 706 copies (bound and in sheets) reverted to the author after dismal sales. Eventually, in 1862, Ticknor and Fields acquired the remainder of bound and unbound copies, and 500 copies were equipped with a cancel title-leaf, constituting the second issue, as here. Of note is the continued presence of the terminal advert noting that WALDEN "will soon be published." A second, corrected edition was not called for until 1868. BORST A1.1.A2. BAL 20104.
Seller: William Reese Company - Literature, ABAA, New Haven, CT, U.S.A.
Thoreau, Henry David. A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.. Ticknor and Fields, Boston, 1862.
Price: US$9800.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, first issue, of Thoreauâs first book, one of only 1000 copies printed and 595 copies returned to Thoreau and purchased by Ticknor and Fields for reissue. Octavo, original publishers cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine. With the Ticknor and Fields cancel title leaf and advertisement at rear. From the library of American book collector and commodore of the New Rochelle Yacht Club Frank Maier with his illustrated bookplate to the pastedown. In near fine condition with the gilt lettering to the spine bright. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example. One of the best-known failures in American publishing history, Thoreau printed his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, at his own expense after several failed attempts to find a publisher. Despite some good reviews, the first edition (consisting of one thousand copies) did not sell. Thoreau wrote, âFor a year or two past, my publisher, falsely so called, has been writing from time to time to ask what disposition should be made of the copies of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers still on hand, and at last suggesting that he had use for the room they occupied in his cellar. So I had them all sent to me here, and they have arrived today by express, filling the manâs wagon-706 copies out of an edition of 1000 which I bought of Munroe four years ago and have ever since been paying for, and have not quite paid for yet. The wares are sent to me at last, and I have an opportunity to examine my purchase⦠Of the remaining two hundred and ninety and odd, seventy-five were given away, the rest sold. I have now a library of nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which I wrote myselfâ (Harding, 254). In 1862, 595 copies of the first edition were bought from Thoreau by Ticknor and Fields and rebound with a new title page bearing their imprint and an original ad for Walden, which at that point had been in print for eight years.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$28750.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Single page autograph letter. Although unaddressed, it is obviously to Thoreau's first publisher, arranging to dispose of the unsold copies of his first book. In his journal he describes how he had to take back and pay for nearly unsold copies, which he stored in his attic. Ticknor and Fields report that 595 bound and unbound copies were bought from Thoreau in 1862. New title pages were prepared, dated 1862, and were issued with the first edition sheets in July of that year. Together with a copy of the book with the cancel title page, but with the announcement of the impending publication of 'Walden' at the end, even though that title had been issued in 1854. The binding shows significant wear at edges and spine tips, and the front endpapers are worn with a small marginal piece lacking at the foredge of the free endpaper and cracked inner hinge. With the three lines lacking at the bottom of page 396, uncorrected. Charles Francis Saunders' copy, with his signature on the title page. Accompanied by a typescript in which Saunders describes the purchase of the book and the placing of the ALS into it. With a newpaper article about the book laid in as well as anote in Saunder's hand, "My nephew Ellsmore is to have this valuable Thoreau book." The letter and typescript are now housed in a protective portfolio, cloth spine paste paper boards and printed title labels. Whiile the book is in only good condition, the letter is near fine, with only faint fold marks. BAL 20104 under 1862 Issue. .
Seller: Thorn Books, ABAA, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.