Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$100.00 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: 2 vols. xxxv; 29p. Ex-library. Two volumes in specially made slipcase. Includes one oversize volume ( 1275" x 9.25") and one smaller (8.4" x 5.7"). Both volumes' spines are soiled. Both contain library stamps, call numbers, bookplate, and card pocket. Text otherwise unmarked. Binding is tight in large volume; small volume's thread binding is broken at the bottom, so while the pages remain tightly bound in themselves, the cover is only weakly attached. The slipcase is scuffed and dampstained and has a sticker on the backstrip, but is still sturdy. The famous open letter written by Robert Louis Stevenson in response to criticism of Fr. Damien of Molokai by Charles McEwen Hyde. The large volume contains the text of the letter with a historical preface, and the smaller volume is a facsimile of the original 1890 publication, with a facsimile of Stevenson's gift inscription. Limited edition; #218 of 250 copies, with a tipped in slip stating that this copy was given with the compliments of William Andrews Clark, Jr., who wrote the historical preface. Measures approx. 13.25" x 9.5" in the slipcase.
Seller: Kubik Fine Books Ltd., ABAA, Dayton, OH, U.S.A.
Price: US$150.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 4to 11" - 13" tall; 27 & 32 pages; Printed for William Andrew Clark by John Henry Nash. Larger book is number 142 of 250 copies. Smaller book is a facsimile of original 1870 Sydney edition, which is 12 mo. Some browning to the spines and edgewear to the covers. Original slipcase with some browning, edgewear, tearing, and corner bumps.
Seller: Circle City Books, tucson, AZ, U.S.A.
Price: US$165.36 + shipping
Description: 2 voll. in-4°e in-8°, pp. XXV, 29, (1), due ritratti in antiporta di Father Damiene di Stevenson inventati e disegnati da William Wilke, legatura in mezza permanena con titolo in oro al dorso in custodia, taglio supeirore in oro. Il secondo volume in-8° è la fedele ristampa anastatiche dell'opera originale edita nel 1890. Titatura di 250 esemplri numerati, il nostro è il n. 191. Piccole abrasioni alla custodia. Pubblicato privatamente da William Andrews Clark, Jr., nel 1924 come regalo personale ad amici e colleghi, questo volume estremamente raro di sole 225 copie accuratamente prodotte con carta fatta a mano. Stampato privatamente a San Francisco dall'importante editore di stampa fine John Henry Nash. William Andrews Clark, Jr. (1877-1934), figlio del senatore William Andrews Clark, fu il fondatore della Filarmonica di Los Angeles nel 1919. Quando morì nel 1934, lasciò in eredità la sua vasta biblioteca di libri e manoscritti rari, la William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, all'Università della California
Seller: LIBRERIA XODO, Torino, Italy
Price: US$245.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 2 volumes, being a facsimile of the 1890 Sydney first edition, and a finely printed volume. Illustrated with two frontispiece portraits, one of Father Damien and one of Stevenson designed and drawn by William Wilke, with short facsimile inscription to each portrait. 21x14 cm (8¼x5¾") and 32x23 cm (12½x9"), vellum-backed tan boards, spines lettered in gilt, both housed in individual compartments in a single slipcase with printed paper spine label. No. 85 of 250 copies privately printed for William Andrews Clark, Jr., by John Henry Nash. -- Printed by Nash at Clark's behest, one of a series of similar publications Clark gave out as a Christmas gift. With "Compliments of William Andrews Clark, Jr., Christmas, 1930" tipped-in paper label at front free endpaper of larger volume. Bookplates of George G. Hutton. -- Slipcase somewhat worn, soiled, frayed; boards and slipcase toned, touch of soiling to vellum; bookplates on front pastedowns, facsimile leaves toned, very good. -- Ships from Hawaii. -- "Robert Louis Stevenson's famous Letter about the catholic martyr Father Damien has attained the stature of a small classic. The Belgian priest's extraordinary devotion to the lepers of Molokai moved Stevenson to compose this impassioned answer to the despicable charges hurled against Damien. The Letter holds the reader with the incisive beauty of its diction, with its irony, its mockery, and its sarcasm. Measured in words, it is brief; but gauged in terms of the scene it evokes, the truths it states, the man it portrays, it is long. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote it with the same clear and accurate insight into human motives and the same depth of sympathy found in all of his great novels and essays. Many books and pamphlets have been written about Father Damien, but this Letter is surely the most profoundly moving work about his courageous, dedicated, inspiring life." -Cobble Hill Press, Inc. New York. Vellum-backed tan boards, both books housed in individual compartments in a single slipcase No. 85 of 250 copies privately printed, by John Henry Nash.
Seller: Rare Books Honolulu, Honolulu, HI, U.S.A.
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Description: 4to and 8vo (respectively). Quarter vellum with gilt lettering and beige paper over boards, 2-compartment slipcase with paper spine label. xxxv, 29pp; 32pp. Facing frontispieces. Near fine/very good. Both volumes with pristine spine and typically age toned boards, per usual, else tight and internally near fine; extra-heavy slipcase quite strong but a tad edgeworn and age toned. Superb copy of this sumptuous production printed for William Andrews Clark, Jr., who writes the lengthy introduction and whose "Compliments of" slip (8 3/4" X 2 3/4") is tipped to front flyleaf. The letter critical of the Catholic priest (1840-89) who became famed for ministering to Hawaiians afflicted with leprosy was penned to a colleague by Congregationalist missionary to Hawaii Charles McEwen Hyde (1832-99) and was not intended for publication -- but once published in a Sydney, Australia newspaper Hyde incurred the wrath of Stevenson. Stevenson's self-published pamphlet consisted of 25 copies only, and the smaller volume here contains a sharp facsimile of this rare item. Colophon in each volume notes limitation of 250 numbered copies (this #77). Like all Nash productions, a superb presentation.
Seller: Main Street Fine Books & Mss, ABAA, Galena, IL, U.S.A.
Price: US$357.50 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Contains a facsimilie of Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Open Letter" to Rev. C. M. Hyde of Honolulu attempting to vindicate the memory of Father Damien who had been seriously defamed by the Presbyterian minister Hyde. Housed in a custom cream colored slipcase that shows some very light soiling.
Seller: Quaker Hill Books, Redding, CT, U.S.A.