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Ralph Waldo Emerson. Essays - First Series. James Munroe and Company, 1841.

Price: US$2800.00 + shipping

Condition: Fair

Description: This is a rare, first edition copy of "ESSAYS" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 1841 1st edition, 1st printing; James Munroe and Company; Boston. The book is a collection of Emerson's first series of essays, including the classic, "Self Reliance" - please see the photos for the complete list. Original publisher's cloth binding. Condition: Staining and fading of the cloth over the covers and spine. There are numerous cloth pieces missing at the spine - please see the photos. The top and bottom edges of the spine are worn with cloth pieces missing. Worn cover corners. Cloth tears along the outer edges of the boards. There is a horizontal cloth tear near the bottom of the spine. Tight binding with no cracks and no loose pages. Both covers are firmly attached. Fading to the cream colored end paper and pastedown at the front. The end papers at the back have a light stain at the lower-inner corner. Occasional, inoffensive mild foxing to the pages (though heavier foxing on the front and rear end papers). Pages 96 & 97 have a 2" x 2" shadow area at the upper-inner corners from a newspaper clipping left between them. Overall the book is in Fair condition.

Seller: CraigsClassics, Hudson, NH, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Essays. James Munroe and Company, Boston, 1841.

Price: US$3000.00 + shipping

Condition: Near Fine

Description: First edition, first printing. Finely bound in early 20th-century full leather, spine heavily gilt decorated and with raised bands, wide turn-ins with dentelle. Near Fine with rubbing to joints, previous owner bookplate to front pastedown and several marginal marks.

Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. ESSAYS: with ESSAYS: SECOND SERIES. James Munroe 1841 & 1844, Boston, 1841.

Price: US$4375.00 + shipping

Description: First Editions of Emerson's two essential collections of essays, each uniformly bound in later 3/4 brown morocco leather and boards with gilt rules, gilt-lettered spines with five raised bands, top edges gilt. Half-title in first volume, second volume bound without advertisements. One of the defining texts of American Transcendentalism. BAL 5189 and BAL 5198; GROLIER AMERICAN 47: "In effect a single book. Timeless, and without a trace of 'dating'"; MYERSON A10.1.a and A16.1.a-b. Tasteful bookplate on each front pastedown; somewhat faint dampstain to preliminaries and first 10 pages of the second volume. Near Fine

Seller: Charles Agvent, est. 1987, ABAA, ILAB, Fleetwood, PA, U.S.A.

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Essays. James Munroe and Company, Boston, 1841.

Price: US$5000.00 + shipping

Description: First Edition, binding state D (no priority). Original brown ribbed cloth, gilt lettering at spine. On Grolier list of one hundred most influential books, includes his most famous essay, Self-Reliance. Author George Van Santvoord's copy with his bookplate and 1842 ownership signature at front endpaper. Van Santvoord wrote law books including 'Sketches of the Lives and Judical Services of the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court (1856). A Good copy, foxing to endpapers, spine end cloth chipped with some loss along spine edges and book corners, modest wave to pages at fore-edge.

Seller: Yesterday's Gallery, ABAA, East Woodstock, CT, U.S.A.

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Essays. James Munroe and Company, Boston, 1841.

Price: US$5000.00 + shipping

Description: First Edition, binding state D (no priority). Original brown ribbed cloth, gilt lettering at spine. On Grolier list of one hundred most influential books, includes his most famous essay, Self-Reliance. Author George Van Santvoord's copy with his bookplate and 1842 ownership signature at front endpaper. Van Santvoord wrote law books including 'Sketches of the Lives and Judical Services of the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court (1856). A Good copy, foxing to endpapers, spine end cloth chipped with some loss along spine edges and book corners, modest wave to pages at fore-edge.

Seller: Babylon Revisited Rare Books, Northampton, MA, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Essays. James Munroe, Boston, 1841.

Price: US$7500.00 + shipping

Description: First edition, first printing. BAL's C binding (no priority) with 2 1/8" ornaments, rules and filigrees (rather than boxes) blindstamped on spine. [vi], 303 pp. Bound in publisher's dark brown ribbed cloth with elaborate blindstamped front and back boards, spine lettered in gilt, cream endpapers. Very Good, cloth worn at head and tail; two small stains to rear board; small tear to front free endpaper, and following page has an ink gift inscription and has a tear repaired with mending tissue; small scrape to half title; some foxing to conetnts, a few dog-eared pages. Decorative blindstamping to cloth still quite distinct. An attractive copy, uncommon thus. The first series of Emerson's essays, including the truly classic "Self-Reliance" and "The Over-Soul."

Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.