Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. The Scarlet Letter. Privately Printed, New York, 1904.
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Privately Printed, New York: 1904. One of 125 copies. In cloth chemise. Fifteen full page illustrations by A. Robaudi & C. Graham each in hand-colored and black & white. Original stiff wrappers in tissue dust jacket. Binding is extremely tender and due for repair. B42 Please email for photos. Larger books or sets may require additional shipping charges. Books sent via US Postal
Seller: Griffin Books, Stamford, CT, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Privately Printed, NY, 1904.
Price: US$349.99 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Three-quarter leather with cloth, hubbed spine/gilt, TEG, marbled endpages. Limited to 125 copies on Japanese imperial paper. Outer hinge cracked, light edge wear. Scattered foxing. 15 original color illustrations. Unmarked, tight binding. ; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall
Seller: curtis paul books, inc., Northridge, CA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Privately Printed, New York, 1904.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Description: Original stiff wrappers in tissue dust jacket.
Seller: THE HERMITAGE BOOKSHOP, Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Description: First edition thus. In the original French-style parchment paperwraps. One of only 125 copies printed on Japanese imperial paper (one additional copy was printed on vellum). Illustrated with 30 plates, including frontispiece, being 15 illustrations each presented in a colored and uncolored version. One section starting resulting in a near split at spine which is slightly toned otherwise would be fine. Impressively well preserved in elaborate red silk moire chemise and marbled paper-covered slipcase. The original backing of the gilt-stamped spine portion of chemise detached (though not pictured, it is partially present) and the silk moire at spine has nearly perished (now backed with clear mylar insert). Worn but original glassine included. "UNIQUE EDITION," ONE OF ONLY 125 PRIVATELY PRINTED COPIES
Seller: Quill & Brush, member ABAA, Middletown, MD, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel.. The Scarlet Letter: A Romance.. New York, Privately Printed, 1904., 1904.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Large 8vo. Illustrated with 15 plates in two states, colored and uncolored by A. Robandi and C. Graham; 30 plates in all. Full contemporary red morocco with elaborate gilt stamped design of scrolling, small flowers and ruling; marbled endpapers. Fine. Bookplate of . on the front pastedown. One of 125 copies on Imperial Japan paper.
Seller: Houle Rare Books/Autographs/ABAA/PADA, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$18200.00 + shipping
Description: 265 x 180 mm. (10 1/2 x 7"). 6 p.l., 333 pp. SUPERB CONTEMPORARY BLACK CRUSHED MOROCCO, INLAID AND GILT, BY BRADSTREET'S, FINISHED BY ALFRED WILLIAM LAUNDER (stamp-signed in gilt: Bradstreet's on front doublure, A. Launder on rear doublure), covers with inlaid Art Nouveau-style frame in taupe and ivory crushed morocco, the former semé with gilt dots, central panel of upper cover with large initial "A" formed by inlaid scarlet morocco acanthus leaves, that of lower cover with the final line of the book "ON A FIELD SABLE THE LETTER A GULES" tooled in gilt majuscules, the bold, flourished "A" inlaid in scarlet morocco; raised bands, spine compartments similarly framed, one compartment with inlaid scarlet morocco "A" tooled with gilt circlets, gilt titling, SPLENDID RED MOROCCO DOUBLURES bordered by inlaid ivory morocco swag-and-trefoil frame, central panel semé with rows of tiny floral sprigs, inlaid ivory morocco oval centerpiece with collar of inlaid ivory morocco lace, leather hinges, ivory watered silk endleaves, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Original printed paper wrapper bound in. Housed in the original dark brown morocco pull-off case lined with maroon calf. With 15 color plates by A. Robaudi and C. Graham, each in a second black & white state, all with original tissue guards. A Large Paper Copy. Front flyleaf with morocco bookplate of Henry William Poor. Catalogue of the Library of Henry W. Poor . . . sold . . . 1908. New York: [Douglas Taylor & Co.] (1908), Lot 614 (this copy). âAN IMMACULATE COPY. This is a memorable volume comprising a luxurious illustrated edition of a great American classic in a binding by a leading American artisan, and from an outstanding private library. Alfred William Launder was born in England and trained in his craft by his father. He then worked in the Mansell bindery before emigrating to New York in the late 19th century, where he first worked at the firm his brother operated with fellow emigré James MacDonald. Finding the pressures of a busy commercial firm less congenial than a small hand bindery, he accepted a job as finisher at Bradstreet's, which bound rare books and manuscripts for collectors including J. Pierpont Morgan and Henry W. Poor. In 1929, Launder became the first bookbinder to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he rebound and restored rare volumes in the museum's Thomas J. Watson Library. An article on the Met's website by Museum Librarian Mindell Dubansky pays tribute to Launder as "one of the finest binders in New York" and someone who had "achieved the highest level in his trade. As a finisher, he was exclusively responsible for the design and decoration of bindings [at the Museum], including the decorative leather onlays, inlays, and gold tooling." For this volume, he designed inlays as flamboyant as the "A" Hawthorne's defiant heroine Hester Prynne embroidered on her bodices. And the condition here manifests the belief expressed in the binding manual Launder created for the Met: "A well-bound book mocks at Time." Former owner Henry William Poor (1844-1915) was a financier and publisher whose firm was a forerunner of Standard and Poor's. He was a patron of the arts as well as a bibliophile whose collection was noted for its holdings in illuminated manuscripts, early printing, fine bindings, private press books, and American imprints. Unfortunate investments led to Poor's financial ruin, causing his impressive library to be sold at auction in 1908-09. His sales at Anderson Galleries brought in more than $200,000, a record at the time for an American collection. This volume was lot 164, praised in the sale catalogue, with the resounding emphasis engendered by majuscules, as "AN EXCEEDINGLY HANDSOME COPY.". UNIQUE EDITION, ONE OF 125 COPIES on Japan Imperial paper (and one on vellum).
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.