Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$493.86 + shipping
Description: Text in two columns, final ad. leaf; rather spotted. Sewn as issued in orig. brown printed wrappers; sl. split at head of spine, one corner chipped, old stab holes in inner margin. Contemp. signature of E.P. Philles on front wrapper. 34pp. Smith USA II, 8. Advertisement variants 'b' (Sterling Work for Libraries) and 'g' (Harper's New Catalogue).
Seller: Jarndyce, The 19th Century Booksellers, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$493.86 + shipping
Description: Text in two columns, final ad. leaf; occasional light spotting. Sewn as issued in orig. brown printed wrappers; old stab holes in inner margin. Contemp. signature of E.P. Philles on front wrapper. 34pp. v.g. Smith USA II, 8. Advertisement variants 'd' (Choice Library of Modern Romance) and 'f' (Harper's Family Library). BL only on Copac.
Seller: Jarndyce, The 19th Century Booksellers, London, United Kingdom
Dickens, Charles. THE HAUNTED MAN and THE GHOST'S BARGAIN. , 1849.
Price: US$625.00 + shipping
Description: A Fancy for Christmas-Time. New York: Harper & Brothers, n.d. [1849]. 2 pp undated ads. Original brown printed wrappers. First American Edition of Dickens's fifth and last Christmas book; there had been no late-1847 Christmas book, as Dickens had then been busy with DOMBEY AND SON. Though undated, this Harper edition in wrappers came out on January 6, 1849; this is earlier in January than was the case for their four previous Christmas books, and for good reason: in December Harper had paid Dickens five pounds for advance sheets -- the first amount an American publisher paid Dickens for a Christmas book. With the earlier four books, several American publishers leapt at the chance to be first; however, for this one, since Harper had a head-start, no other American publisher bothered to make the effort. In this copy, the (inside and outside) wrapper ads are the primary ones cited by Smith; the terminal ad leaf (pp [35-36]) has "Valuable Geographic Works" (Smith's state "c") on the recto, and "Harper's Family Library" (Smith's state "f") on the verso. Smith notes that "it is not possible to prioritize the states [of the ad leaf] accurately." This copy is in near-fine condition, with the front wrapper unusually clean and the delicate spine quite intact. There are a few marks on the rear wrapper, the usual foxing on the leaves within, plus some wear at the fore- and lower edge of the wrapper -- a common problem for this booklet, as the wrapper extends past the textual leaves. There is also a little marginal damage to some leaves, due to improper opening. We do not see this book in much better condition. Smith pp 104-107; Podeschi (Yale) A120; Carr (UTexas) B426(1).
Seller: Sumner & Stillman [ABAA], Yarmouth, ME, U.S.A.
Price: US$1282.76 + shipping
Description: First US edition. This was the copy of the bibliographer Walter Smith, with his pencilled ownership signature on the title page, and is the copy photographed and described in his bibliography of Dickens. The Haunted Man was the fifth and final Christmas book by Dickens, and was first published in the UK on 19 December 1848. This US edition was published on 6 January 1849, closer to the UK publication than other US editions of the Christmas books - Harper paid Dickens £5 for advance sheets. For the other Christmas Books several American publishers competed to be first, but for this title since Harper had a headstart, no other publishers attempted to compete. "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain is concerned with the power of memory, with family life which is destroyed and replaced only by the wretched anxieties of a distinguished but solitary man. It has been said that in this autobiographical fragment Dickens is only suppressing his feelings of hurt and jealous rage, but it seems more likely that he was actively involved, after Fanny's death, in the process of transcending them" (Ackroyd, p. 553). Gimbel A120; Smith, Charles Dickens: A Bibliography of His First American Editions: The Christmas Books, pp. 104-7. Peter Ackroyd, Dickens, 1990. Octavo. Original brown wrappers. Housed in custom brown leather chemise and box. Recent bookplate of collector Peter Russell mounted to inside cover of box. Very minor chipping at wrapper extremities, lightly stained throughout, still a very good copy of this fragile publication.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom