Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Robert Frost. North of Boston. Henry Holt and Company, New York., 1919.
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Octavo. Pp. 137 + [15]ff. Second edition, first with illustrations. Contains 15 black & white plates by James Chapin, including frontispiece portrait of the young Frost. No date or limitation stated, but 1919, and one of 500 copies. On the front flyleaf is an accomplished original pen drawing of a bookplate, with a Viking ship, a motto (Tenez Vray) an ornamental frame, and the owner's name in (Alison Jones) in blackletter, signed "C.A.C. Jr." and dated Feb. 14, 1920. One plate detached, else internally fine, nicely printed on laid paper, in cloth backed green boards, rubbed at extremities and on title label on front. No jacket.
Seller: Bryn Mawr Bookstore, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.
Frost, Robert.. North of Boston. Pictures by James Chapin.. Henry Holt and Company, 1919.
Price: US$375.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Crane A3.3. Second American Edition. A Very Good copy in dark green cloth over dark green paper covered boards, spine gilt, gold label to front board. Lacking the dustwrapper. 137pp. with 15 black and white illustrations (including frontispiece portrait of Frost) in text. Printed letterpress on heavy laid paper, fore- and bottom edges untrimmed. Point of boards rubbed. Small dent to top of rear board. Text and endpapers clean and unmarked. Binding cracked at 54-55. Withal, a very nice copy of one of Frost's finest editions. Q14574
Seller: Compass Rose Books, ABAA-ILAB, Kensington, CA, U.S.A.
Robert Frost. North of Boston (1st Illustrated edition). Henry Holt, 1919.
Price: US$550.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: North of Boston 1919 Near Fine First Illustrated Edition Additional Photos Available Upon Request Henry Holt
Seller: D & L Fine Books, Richboro, PA, U.S.A.
Frost, Robert. NORTH OF BOSTON. New York: Henry Holt and Company, [1919], 1919.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Second American and First illustrated edition. Neat contemporary dated (1919) ownership signature of artist Eleanor Norcross to the front endpaper. Short split to the upper front inner hinge, else fine in darker green cloth over dark green boards with a cover label of gold Chinese paper with titles in green; in the original matching dark green printed dust jacket with chipping to the crown of the spine. The poet's second book illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Frost and fourteen tissue-guarded plates by James Chapin. An unstated limited edition of 500 copies printed on white laid linen-rag paper with fore-edges uncut. A lovely edition. Crane A3.3.
Seller: BOOKFELLOWS Fine Books, ABAA, Sun City, AZ, U.S.A.
Robert Frost. North of Boston. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1919.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Description: This is the second American edition of the authors second published book, a striking limited edition published in 1919, four years after the American first trade edition. Opening with the famous poems "The Pasture" and "Mending Wall," North of Boston bolstered Frosts newly minted literary reputation and precipitated his return to the United States from England. In 1919, the American publisher issued this second and limited edition of 500 copies. The binding featured a dark green linen spine over lighter green, paper-covered boards with a gilt-stamped spine and gilt front panel with title and author printed in black. The contents feature fourteen illustrations by James Chapin and are printed on heavy, watermarked, laid, linen-rag paper with untrimmed fore and bottom edges. A dust jacket was issued on heavy, dark green laid paper with gilt print on spine as well as the front cover, within a gilt rule frame. The edition is lovely, but proved fragile, the jacket particularly brittle, the paper-covered boards of the binding easily scuffed and soiled. This copy is very good in a poor dust jacket. The binding remains tight and square with only minor wear, but nonetheless showing minor bumps to the lower front corners and light scuffing and soiling to the covers. The contents are clean and bright with a crisp feel, showing no spotting or previous ownership names. The page edges, including the untrimmed fore and bottom edges, are clean with only mild age-toning. The dust jacket is noteworthy for having survived and has done its job protecting the binding, but suffered in the process. There is a full front hinge split, as well a detached front flap with chipping along the flap fold. We note moderate chipping to extremities to a maximum depth of .75 inches, and the spine and front cover gilt is faded, legible on the front face, barely so on the spine. The dust jacket is now protected and stabilized beneath a removable, archival quality clear cover. Iconic American poet and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963), the quintessential poetic voice of New England, was actually born in San Francisco and first published in England. When Frost was eleven, his newly widowed mother moved east to Salem, New Hampshire, to resume a teaching career. There Frost swiftly found his poetic voice, infused by New England scenes and sensibilities. Promising as both a student and writer, Frost nonetheless dropped out of both Dartmouth and Harvard, supporting himself and a young family by teaching and farming. Ironically, it was a 1912 move to England with his wife and children "the place to be poor and to write poems" that finally catalyzed his recognition as a noteworthy American poet. The manuscript of A Boys Will was completed in England and accepted for publication by David Nutt on 1 April 1913. A convocation of critical recognition, introduction to other writers, and creative energy supported the English publication of Frosts second book, North of Boston, in 1914, after which "Frosts reputation as a leading poet had been firmly established in England, and Henry Holt of New York had agreed to publish his books in America." Accolades met his return to America at the end of 1914 and by 1917 a move to Amherst "launched him on the twofold career he would lead for the rest of his life: teaching whatever "subjects" he pleased at a congenial college and "barding around," his term for "saying" poems in a conversational performance." (ANB) By 1924 he had won the first of his eventual four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry (1931, 1937, and 1943). Frost spent the final decade and a half of his life as "the most highly esteemed American poet of the twentieth century" with a host of academic and civic honors to his credit. Two years before his death he became the first poet to read in the program of a U.S. Presidential inauguration (Kennedy, January 1961). Bibliographic reference: Crane A3.3 Second, limited American edition and first illustrat
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Frost, Robert. NORTH OF BOSTON. Pictures by James Chapin. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1919.
Price: US$900.00 + shipping
Description: Second American edition, first edition thus, first illustrated edition, limited to 500 copies on "British Hand Made Paper" pp. ix, 137, illustrated (reproducing drawings by James Chapin). FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF "NORTH OF BOSTON" (1919 IN DUST JACKET). Crane A3.3 Cover label is lightly rubbed, else a fine, bright copy in scarce printed dust jacket. The jacket spine lettering is slightly faded with very thin chip at crown, small faint soil mark on spine, front panel has two short creased tears and short, thin chip, spot of rubbing (with tiny nicked abrasion), else a near fine, crisp copy of a scarce dust jacket pp. ix, 137, illustrated (reproducing drawings by James Chapin) Second American edition, first edition thus, first illustrated edition, limited to 500 copies on "British Hand Made Paper".
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Frost, Robert [1874-1963]. North of Boston. , 1919.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1919. 8vo, ix, 137 p., original dark blue boards with gold paper label to upper front board and deckled page ends. First thus edition of this collection of Frost's poetry, the first illustrated edition, with 15 plates by James Chapin, issued in an unstated edition of only 500 copies. This is a nice copy with some minor tarnishing to label on front board, light rubbing to boards, minor soiling to top page ends, but spine gilt nice and bright, and otherwise a VG+ copy, in a VG+ example of the fragile jacket with a small nick to top edge front panel, a 1/2" closed tear to top edge front jacket panel adjacent front spine joint; small closed tear to lower front spine joint, and a section of crimping and wrinkling with small tear to lower rear jacket panel, but a nice sharp copy overall and scarce thus.
Seller: Marc J Bartolucci, Hudson, MA, U.S.A.
FROST, ROBERT.. North of Boston. Pictures by James Chapin. New York: Henry Holt, n.d. [1919], 1919.
Price: US$1650.00 + shipping
Description: First Illustrated Edition; according to Clymer and Green one of 500 copies. Neither the date of publication nor the limitation are noted in this edition. Minor offsetting from a previously laid in clipping on the front free endpaper; very good or better. Signed by Frost at the bottom of the portrait frontispiece and inscribed on the first blank 'To Lillian Martin Quimby from Abby Forbes & [this inscription is in her hand] and signed by the illustrator below 'James Chapin.' Chapin, a fine artist, was the grandfather of Harry Chapin and a distant cousin of Mary Chapin Carpenter. Abby (Abigail) Forbes was his wife. All books described as first editions are first printings unless otherwise noted.
Seller: Peter L. Stern & Co., Inc, Newton, MA, U.S.A.
Frost, Robert.. North of Boston.. Henry Holt and Company, 1919.
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Originally published in England [David Nutt, 1914], and in America [Henry Holt, 1915], this is the Second American Edition, with illustrations by James Chapin. Limited to 500 copies, it's beautifully printed letterpress on special paper, fore- and bottom edges untrimmed. A Fine copy in quarter dark green cloth over dark green paper covered boards, spine gilt, with front cover label (rather tarnished as usual), in a Near Fine or better example of the fragile dark green dustwrapper, tiny nicks to rear top spine-fold and lower front spine-fold. Text and endpapers clean and unmarked. Crane A3.3. Lovely copy. Q14620
Seller: Compass Rose Books, ABAA-ILAB, Kensington, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Description: This is a particularly compelling presentation copy of a striking limited edition of the authors second published book. This copy not only retains the original dust jacket, but is also inscribed by the illustrator and signed by the author. Robert Frost signed his name in the blank lower right margin of his frontispiece portrait by the illustrator, James Chapin. Chapin himself inked a warm gift inscription in five lines on the front free endpaper recto: "To Max & Ruth who, | in sympathy watched | the growth of this | garment | James Chapin".Opening with the famous poems "The Pasture" and "Mending Wall," North of Boston bolstered Frosts newly minted literary reputation and precipitated his return to the United States from England. In 1919, his American publisher issued this second and limited edition of 500 copies. The binding features a dark green linen spine over lighter green, paper-covered boards with a gilt-stamped spine and gilt front panel with title and author printed in black. The contents feature the frontispiece Frost portrait and fourteen illustrations by James Chapin and are printed on heavy, watermarked, laid, linen-rag paper with untrimmed fore and bottom edges. A dust jacket was issued on dark green laid paper with gilt print on spine as well as the front cover, within a gilt rule frame. The edition is lovely, but fragile, the jacket particularly brittle, the paper-covered boards easily scuffed and soiled.This copy is near fine in the original dust jacket. The binding is clean, tight, and square with minor bumps to the corners and light wear to the spine ends and corners. The contents are clean and bright with a crisp feel, with no spotting or previous ownership marks other than the illustrators inscription and authors signature. The untrimmed fore and bottom edges are surprisingly clean, the top edge only lightly dust soiled. The dust jacket is noteworthy for having survived and admirably protected the binding. We note chip losses to the top and bottom edges, to a maximum .75 inch depth at the spine head and .25 inch at the spine heel, as well as a horizontal split to the lower spine three inches from the heel and a vertical split along the front hinge. The dust jacket is protected beneath a removable, archival quality clear cover. The volume is protected within a full, dark green morocco clamshell case with raised and gilt-ruled spine bands, tan morocco spine labels, gilt frame rule on the beveled edge covers, and dark green paper lining.American painter and illustrator James Ormsbee Chapin (1887-1975) was father of jazz musician Jim Chapin and grandfather of folk singer Harry Chapin. Like Frost, Chapins art was often rooted in a sense of place. In the mid-1920s he would move to a New Jersey farm where he created a series of paintings that were "realistic depictions of the rigors and rhythms of rural farm life" and whose "idiosyncratic, original style won high praise from critics and fellow artists".Iconic American poet Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963) was the quintessential poetic voice of New England. Ironically, Frost was born in San Francisco and it was a 1912 move to England with his wife and children "the place to be poor and to write poems" that catalyzed his recognition. Following the 1913 publication of A Boys Will, a convocation of critical recognition, introduction to other writers, and creative energy supported the 1914 English publication of Frosts second book, North of Boston, which strengthened Frosts reputation as a leading poet. By 1924 he had won the first of his eventual four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry (1931, 1937, and 1943). Frost spent his final years as "the most highly esteemed American poet of the twentieth century" with a host of academic and civic honors to his credit. Two years before his death he became the first poet to read in the program of a U.S. Presidential inauguration (Kennedy, January 1961).Reference: Crane A3.3 Second, limited American edition and first illustrated
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
FROST Robert. North of Boston. [1919]., 1919.
Price: US$2548.08 + shipping
Description: Second American edition. Illustrations by James Chapin. 8vo., original cloth backed boards, label printed in gold on upper cover, dust jacket. Uncut. New York, Henry Holt and Company. No Date, With bold inscriptions from author and artist: on the front free endpaper ?For the H.S. Bowerses of Mount Washington memory (both cloudy and clear) from the Robert Frosts October 20 1919?; on the first blank ?With love to Margaret and Harry from Abby and Jim? (?Abby? in her hand). Dust jacket with clean closed tears (about 5 cm) on both hinges, and generally a little used and abused, but clean and quite presentable. One of the plates had been held in with small sellotape tabs which have left a stain - the plate is now only loosely inserted.
Seller: Maggs Bros. Ltd ABA, ILAB, PBFA, BA, London, United Kingdom