Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor Reed & Fields, Boston, 1852.
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Description: 8vo, original cloth; some wear at extremes of spine & corners; Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields. 1852. First Edition. The text block is clean, but the frontispiece portrait is considerably foxed, offsetting to the title page. An early owner has penciled an 8 line description of Pierce on p. 138.
Seller: Argosy Book Store, ABAA, ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Nathaniel hawthorne. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed and Fileds, 1852.
Price: US$325.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Brown boards with blind stamped block pattern on front and back. Gilt lettering on spine. Binding is good - no cracks. Foxing present on the end papers. Minor wear to the top edge of the spine.
Seller: Sheafe Street Books, Portsmouth, NH, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1852.
Price: US$385.00 + shipping
Description: Binding state A (spine imprint 2mm), per BAL. Octavo (19cm). Blindstamped brown cloth, titled in gilt on spine; pale yellow endpapers; 144pp; 4pp publisher's catalogue inserted at front, dated September 1852, with the lowercase P (state D, per BAL); frontispiece portrait of Pierce. Tight and sound, chipped at extremities with small patch of wear to front board, a few spots of foxing but generally clean: Very Good. Contemporary pencil ownership signature at head of title page, "C.H.[?] Eccleston." Campaign biography of Hawthorne's fellow Bowdoin alumnus, who named Hawthorne consul to Liverpool after his election. Three printings appeared in 1852; no priority has been established, though this copy's spine imprint matches that of the extant copyright deposit copy. Written as an election document, a special edition of 5000 copies would also be printed and distributed for the Democratic Committee in New York. BAL 7612; CLARK A21.1.a.b.c.
Seller: Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA, Winchester, VA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1852.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Description: Hawthorne wrote this biography of his close friend Franklin Pierce, which was issued as an election document. Pierce would go on to win the 1852 election and succeed Millard Fillmore to become the 14th president of the United States. This copy BAL state A with brown cloth and spine imprint 2mm high. Ads state D (no priority) dated September, 1852, and "The Golden Legend," described as "Just published," with lowercase "p." Sharp copy of this nonfiction work from the Dark Romantic novelist, Hawthorne. BAL 7612. 12mo, [1], 4pp. (ads), [3], 144pp. Frontis. Brown cloth ruled and decorated in blind, gilt lettering to spine. Small split to cloth at headcap, light soiling, toning to ad catalog, else clean internally. Very good or better
Seller: Peruse the Stacks, Gig Harbor, WA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS, BOSTON, 1852.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: 166 year old paperback, paper spine still intact with black lettering, some string showing through, original price on front cover 37 1/2 cents, authentic portait with tissue guard, edges worn, pages yellowing but clean, rubbed extremities, spine split text block but all pages present, somewhat brittle. VERY SCARCE FOR A PAPERBACK ISSUED COPY TO SURVIVE DATE PUBLISHED: 1852 EDITION: 144
Seller: Princeton Antiques Bookshop, Atlantic City, NJ, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1852.
Price: US$550.00 + shipping
Description: 12mo (18.5cm.); publisher's brown blind-embossed cloth, gilt-lettered spine (spine imprint state "A" per BAL), yellow endpapers; 144pp.; engraved portrait frontispiece by C.E. Wagstaff and J. Andrews. Boards lightly rubbed, shallow losses at spine ends, light foxing to frontispiece, else Very Good and sound. This copy state "A" (no priority) per BAL, issued without the publisher's advertisements. Three printings appeared in 1852; no priority has been established, though this copy's spine imprint matches that of the extant copyright deposit copy. Written as an election document, a special edition of 5000 copies would also be printed and distributed for the Democratic Committee in New York. BAL 7612; CLARK A21.1.a-c.
Seller: Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA, Winchester, VA, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1852.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Large 12mo. Four pages of publishers ads (July 1852), [5], 4-144 pp. Frontis. engraved portrait of Pierce with tissue guard. Yellow endpapers. Original green cloth, blindstamped with gilt lettering on spine. Foxing to preliminaries. Bookplate of Mary Savage Johnson on the front pastedown. Interior bright, cloth in pleasing condition with spine ends intact, corners sharp. A piece of electioneering written by Pierce's Bowdoin College chum. The effort was reciprocated when President Pierce appointed Hawthorne U.S. Consul in Liverpool. A notably bright copy now protected in a removable, clear archival sleeve. BAL, 7612; CLARK, A21.1.a; SABIN, 30992.
Seller: Long Brothers Fine & Rare Books, ABAA, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1852.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Description: Presentation copy, from publisher to Alexander H. Rice (1818-1895), dated September 21, 1852. Rice was a successful entrepreneur in the paper industry who began his rise in politics shortly after the date of the inscription, serving as the mayor of Boston between 1856 and 1857, a U.S. Congressman during the Civil War, and Governor of Massachusetts from 1876 to 1878. 8vo. 4 pages of publisher's ads, 144 pp. This biography of Pierce was issued before he was elected President. While Rice was a Republican, he was opposed to abolition of slavery, and of course Pierce is remembered, if remembered at all, for being adamantly opposed to abolition, as well as being among the worst President in American history.
Seller: White Fox Rare Books, ABAA/ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed, & Fields, Boston, 1852.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Brown cloth finely embossed, gilt spine title, blind borders & blind central device to boards, pale yellow endpapers / pastedown, & tissued frontis; A near very good copy excepting narrow loss 1.5" lower front hinge affecting spine, lacking fep, uniformly foxed portrait (but not overly dark), & somewhat toned title page; First two leaves are publisher advertisemens, then 144 pages.
Seller: White Raven Books, Ypsilanti, MI, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, E-063, 1852.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardcover. 12mo. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, MA. 1852. 144 pgs First Edition (4-page advertisements dated July 1852 inserted between front endpages). Bound in green cloth boards with gilt titles present to the spine and textured boards. Boards have light shelf-wear present to the extremities. Previous owner's bookplate present to the front pastedown. Foxing present. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. One of only two American presidential political biographies written by men of letters. Hawthorne was a college classmate and friend of Pierce's, and he wrote this during the presidential campaign of 1852. While professing objectivity, Hawthorne considered the work "a political biography, and as a representation of the principles and acts of a public man, intended to operate upon the minds of multitudes, during a presidential canvass." Pierces activities during the war are covered extensively on pp. 66-108. Pierce, a general, landed at Veracruz and went with the army all the way to final victory at Mexico City. E-063; 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 144 pages
Seller: Last Exit Books, Charlottesville, VA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1852.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First issue with ads dated September 1852. (4, ads) 144 pp. Hardcover, bound in original embossed brown cloth. The binding a bit frayed at the spine ends; the frontispiece foxed affecting the facing leaves.
Seller: Moroccobound Fine Books, IOBA, Lewis Center, OH, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Life of Franklin Pierce. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1852.
Price: US$10500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Original brown cloth. Some chipping to spine ends and joints. Cloth case. First edition. A fine presentation copy linking three Bowdoin friends, inscribed by Hawthorne: For Dr William Mason, with the regards of Nath. Hawthorne. Pierce, Hawthorne, and Mason had attended Bowdoin College together, with Pierce and Mason in the class of 1824 and Hawthorne in the class of 1825. All three were members of the Democratic Athenaean Society, a literary group chaired by Pierce. In an 1832 letter to Pierce, Hawthorne had reflected: You cannot imagine how proud I feel, when I recollect that I myself was once in office with you, on the standing committee of the Athenaean Society. Hawthorne also intimated to Pierce then speaker of the New Hampshire legislature and candidate for Congress that he might one day become president. In 1852, Hawthorne wrote this presidential campaign biography for his oldest and closest friend. That same year, Mason, a physician, moved from Bucksport, Maine, to Charleston, Massachusetts, near Boston. Perhaps the move brought the two former Athenaean Society members into renewed acquaintance. Hawthorne would later dedicate his 1863 collection of essays on England, Our Old Home, to Pierce, who had facilitated for him the Liverpool consulship that led to its writing. In 1864, on a trip with Pierce in New Hampshire, Hawthorne died. In 1869, Pierce died. And when, in 1881, Dr. William Mason died, he was described in his obituary as a life-long friend of the late former president (Boston Evening Transcript). Clearly, college ties had endured. In this historically important presentation copy, one old friend of Franklin Pierce recognizes another.
Seller: 19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop, Stevenson, MD, U.S.A.