Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Description: 1st Edition Clamshell Collector's Case. No Binding it is a case. BRAND NEW! THE SCARLET LETTER A ROMANCE.[Not A Book] First Edition Clamshell Case.HAND-CRAFTED by our conservation team, each box is Gilt-stamped at the spine. This handsome case is finished in brown Nuba® with a 'sculpted' design of the iconic letter "A" based on this important American novel. Velour finished interior with gold stamping on the spine and black sides. Every TBCL case can be finished in a selection of fine leathers & cloths or Nuba® or a combination of both. Nuba® is a fine, supple & durable covering with a neutral ph that has the feel of velvety soft Italian Nubuck leather. This clamshell is perfectly sized to accommodate your first edition. A Handsome Collector's Custom Case for an important Book. Generally over 100 in-stock titles. Custom Craft available upon request. "Books definitely NOT included" When you place your order: Please confirm the actual size of your first edition as sizes may vary with age or if the edition is covered in Mylar. This case is 7.6" x 5" x 0.9" The text can be altered to add "signed" or other special requests.
Seller: TBCL The Book Collector's Library, Montreal, QC, Canada
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$412.50 + shipping
Description: Octavo (19cm). Publisher's blindstamped brown cloth, gilt title on spine; yellow endpapers; [4],[i-ii], [v]-vi,322pp; 4pp publisher's catalog at front, dated October 1, 1849. Title page printed in two colors. Ownership inscription of Margaret R. Brown to first leaf of text. Straight but rubbed, recased, joints cracking with minor repairs (external), some scotch tape to spine, foxed, and lacking the preface (pp. iii-iv): Fair. One of 2500 copies of the second edition, complete apart from the preface. CLARK A16.2, likely state y2 of the preliminary gathering. BAL 7601 first printing, with the Metcalf and Company imprint and the earlier publisher's catalog.
Seller: Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA, Winchester, VA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter, A Romance. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: A Very Good copy in embossed full brown leather lettered and decorated in gold at the spine, marbled endpapers. An apparently mid-twentieth century binding. Small owner's name/address label from the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, no other marks. Hobart & Robbins on the copyright page. Four-page publisher's catalogue at the front.
Seller: Row By Row Bookshop, Sugar Grove, NC, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$846.43 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Second edition with a new preface by HAWTHORNE and REPUDIATE instead of REDUPLICATE in line 20 of page 21. 4 pp ads dated MARCH, 1850 at the front of the book followed by 322 pp. VERY GOOD CONDITION PP. 91-100 and a few other pages with minor foxing, Binding is strong and outer 1/8" cloth strip to top/bottom of spine missing, otherwise very nice, clean, complete, and tight.
Seller: Barry's Books, San Antonio, TX, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$900.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: A very good second edition, but a variant state with elements of the first printing. According to BAL, the first printing terminates with page 322, as does this copy. (Second printing terminates with page 307, according to BAL.) Also, this copy contains the ads dated May, 1850, which BAL says is exclusive to the first printing. In the original brown cloth, much nicer condition than usually seen.
Seller: Bookbid, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor & Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 8vo, original brown ribbed cloth, stamped in gilt & blind (worn at extremes of the spine & rubbed at the corners). Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields, 1850. First Edition. Later printing contain most of the textual corrections and with May ads inserted between the two front, yellow end-leaves. Some of the pages are heavily foxed, particularly the back end-leaves.
Seller: Argosy Book Store, ABAA, ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Nathaniel Hawthorne. A Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, first issue with "redupilicate" on page 21 line 20, "characterss" on page 41 line 5, "catechism" page 132 line 29, "known of it" on page 199 line 4. Measuring approximately 7.5" x 5" with 322 numbered pages. This book is in poor condition. Front board detached from binding. Moderate chipping to both ends of spine. Moderate bumping to all corners of boards. Previous owner's name plate on front pastedown. Interior pages moderately foxed. Rear pastedown and endpaper heavily foxed. In Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne, a young woman who has given birth to a baby of unknown paternity. Please view the many other rare titles available for purchase at our store. We are always interested in purchasing individual or collections of fine books. Inventory # (L4-5).
Seller: Ernestoic Books, Clarence, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$1848.38 + shipping
Description: [American Literature] FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Octavo (18 x 12cm) pp.[iv]; 322, title page printed in red and black. Elegantly bound in full deep red oasis morocco, with black title labels lettered in gilt, raised bands, gilt decoration to spine, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Earliest state of the text with the following points; 'reduplicate' p.21 l.20. 'characterss' p.41 l.5. 'Catechism' p.132 l.29. 'known of it' p.199 l.4. Bound without advertisements. Contents clean, exterior as new. A lovely fine copy in an attractive recent leather binding. Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic investigation of the American mind. Clark and Pittsburgh [A16].
Seller: Adrian Harrington Ltd, PBFA, ABA, ILAB, Royal Tunbridge Wells, KENT, United Kingdom
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$2100.00 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Original brown cloth, worn, hinges cracked, wear and loss to cloth at spine ends and edges, slight dampstaining to covers. A bit shaken, scattered mostly minor foxing and browning, old signature to title. A bit rough, but a complete and unsophisticated copy of the first edition with the publisher's list dated March 1, 1850 bound first. Though sometimes described as having points of issue, there is really just a first and a second edition of The Scarlet Letter. 4 page list, iv, 322, blank. BAL 7600. Provenance: Ruth and Chester Greenough (bookplate); Chester was a Dean at Harvard; Greenough Hall is named after him. Size: Octavo (8vo). Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilo. Category: Literature & Literary; Inventory No: 047969.
Seller: Pazzo Books, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Description: Original brown cloth, stamped in gilt and blind. Spine dull, frayed at the ends, slight wear to corners, hinges trifle loose; internally mostly fresh and clean. March 1850 catalogue. BAL 7600.
Seller: Thomas A. Goldwasser Rare Books (ABAA), CHESTER, CT, U.S.A.
Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1850.
Price: US$3000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition; A Near Fine book, beautifully rebound in blue calf with a single gilt frame, spine in 5 compartments with raised bands. An exceptional copy of this classic of literature; uncommon in the first edition, particularly in this condition. All first issue points present including the list of books from March 1, 1850; also bound in is the original cloth binding, in 3 pieces, affixed to 3 pages at the back of the book. The book is in near fine condition with some mild foxing and soiling to the pages and a few age spots scattered through the text, and some light rubbing to the joints and corners, else a tight, clean, and bright copy. Will ship well wrapped in a sturdy box. We are always buying quality books!
Seller: Grayshelf Books, ABAA, IOBA, Tomball, TX, U.S.A.
Price: US$3250.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: The Scarlet Letter, a romance Nathaniel Hawthorne Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields. 1850. 322 pages. Hardcover. Bound in blindstamped brown boards with gold lettering on the spine. This is the standard Ticknor, Reed, and Fields (later Ticknor and Fields) binding, familiar to collectors of American Literature. Original boards and spine have been professionally restored. Spine rebacked with sympathetic brown cloth beneath original spine strip. New endpapers added, but original booksellers tag retained on the inside front cover (Merrill & Young, booksellers & stationers. Manchester N.H.). 4 pages of ads reinserted at the front. This set of TRF ads is dated March 1, 1850. Binding is good, clean and tight. Pages clean and square with no marks and no foxing. Early ownership signature in pencil (lightly done) F.A. Brown on first original blank. First printing of the first edition. The publication points are underlined (lightly) in pencil, except where noted below. Page 21, line 20: reduplicate for repudiate. Final page of Table of Contents numbered iv. Page 41, line 5: characters for characters. Page 100, line 2: mortal for moral. Page 102, line 22: tobelieve for to believe. (this one not marked with pencil). Page 132, line 29: catechism for catechisms. Page 321, the number 21 printed below the word there on the bottom line. The Scarlet Letter was Hawthornes greatest work and stands as one of the high water marks of nineteenth century American Literature. It was published in an edition of 2,500 copies, which was a large edition for the time. It sold well. Hawthorne, who had published only a few books of short stories and an anonymous novelette, saw himself raised to the highest rank of American men of letters. It is one of only a handful of novels of the era still familiar to students everywhere. This copy is in very good condition. Original covers and spine are quite scarce and they are retained here (although in restored rather than original form). Original advertisements. Tightly bounds. New endpapers and headbands (red and green) added during restoration. Please email with questions or to request photos. (stored in the vault)
Seller: Riverby Books, Fredericksburg, VA, U.S.A.
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Scarlet Letter, a Romance. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$3500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition, first state with all points. Full crushed red leather, double gilt rules at edges, 6 raised bands on spines with gilt boxes (4 with As) author and title. All edges gilt . Scarlet A with gilt edges laid in on front cover. March 1, 1850 ads at rear. Cloth covers and spine laid in at rear. Spine a little faded, small dull spots on front and rear covers. Ink gift inscription of 1950 on end paper. Very handsome.
Seller: Isaiah Thomas Books & Prints, Inc., Cotuit, MA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. THE SCARLET LETTER A ROMANCE. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$3500.00 + shipping
Description: 4,vi,322pp. Original brown publisher's cloth, decorated in blind, lettered in gilt. Title printed in black and red. Publisher's catalogue dated March 1 1850. Spine ends a bit frayed, a few faint spots to upper boards, lower foretips shelfworn, ownership inscription on front free endsheet ("Susan T. Walker, Washington City, DC, May 3rd 1851(?)"), some foxing early and late, otherwise a very good copy. Second edition, with the additional "Preface to the Second Edition" dated 30 March 1850, and some textual corrections. This is BAL's printing 1 of this edition, with the Metcalf and Company imprint on the verso of the title. It is Clark's sole printing of the second edition, and like the first printing of the first edition, consisted of 2500 copies. Accompanied by a printed customs receipt for the Port of Salem, executed in ink on May 23 1848, pertaining to duty "Twenty eight hundred & fifty Monkey Skins," imported from Africa, signed by the customs collector and naval officer, and countersigned by Hawthorne. BAL 7601. CLARK A16.2. GROLIER AMERICAN HUNDRED 59.
Seller: William Reese Company - Literature, ABAA, New Haven, CT, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. A Romance. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$3500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, publisher's ads dated March 1, 1850. [iv], 322 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Hawthorne's Masterpiece. Hawthorne's masterpiece, the great novel of the Puritan American conscience. BAL 7600; Clarke A16.1; Grolier American Hundred 59; Grolier, Hawthorne, no. 21 Original brown cloth stamped blind, spine titled in gilt. Early ownership written neatly in pencil on flyleaf following ads. Skilful repairs to spine ends and front inner hinge. Very good plus First edition, publisher's ads dated March 1, 1850.
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel.. THE SCARLET LETTER.. TICKNOR, REED & FIELDS., BOSTON, 1850.
Price: US$3750.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First edition. Re-cased 'First' issue in original brown cloth, stamped in gilt and blind. One of 2500 copies printed. A solidly good copy, with traces of shallow damping along upper upper & bottom edge of spine. Gilt on spine still reasonable bright. Wear appparent at corners & edges. Contents essentially clean, with some discernable soiling at margins. Publisher's March 1st. , 1850 ads at front of text. All 'First' issue points present. (P.21-line 20: "reduplicate" for "Repudiate" p.41/5 "Characterss" p. 100/2: "mortal" for "moral" p. 102/22: "tobelieve" p.132/29: "catechism" for "catechisms" p.142/23: "heaven" for "heavenly" p. 189/23: "said" for "answered" 199/4: "known of it". Number "21" printed below "there" at foot of page. A few instances of light underlining. ) An acceptably nice copy of an American classic. (B); 322 pages
Seller: WAVERLEY BOOKS ABAA, Santa Monica, CA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter, a romance. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$3990.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First edition, first issue. Boston: Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1850. First edition, first issue. Octavo ( 7 1/8" x 4 3/8", 181mm x 112mm). [Full collation available.] With 4pp. advertisements, dated March 1, 1850. Bound in the publisher's brown ribbed cloth. Title, author and publisher gilt to spine. Yellow glazed end-papers. Presented in a quarter blue morocco slip-case with chemise. Text-block split at quire 14, connected by the lower cord. Spine attached only at front hinge. Wear to the front fore-corners. Head and tail worn. Some spotting to the binding. Internally quite clean, with the very occasional spot of foxing. Pencil ownership inscription of F. Quincy to the front paste-down. Occasional pencil side-lining. With a typed point-collation laid in. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) brought out The Scarlet Letter, his second novel, some 23 years after his first attempt: Fanshawe. Immediately Hawthorne rose to the first rank of American romantic authors, with Herman Melville crowning him the best of the new generation; he would go on to dedicate Moby-Dick (1851) to him. Hester Prynne has become an icon of American letters. The first issue of the first edition was 2,500 copies, which sold wildly quickly. Some errors were corrected and others introduced in later issues. The present copy has, in addition to 4pp. advertisements dated March 1, 1850 (inserted between the front paste-down and the first free end-paper, as issued), all points of the first issue: A. p. 21, l. 20: "reduplicate" (second: "repudiate") A. p. 31, l. 7: "for a man" (second: "fora man") A. p. 41, l. 5: "characterss" A. p. 100, l. 2 "mortal interests" (third: "moral interests") A. p. 102, l. 22: "tobelieve" A. p. 143, ll. 23-24: "heaven-ordained" (third (on. p. 137) "heavenly-ordained") A. p. 189, l. 23: "said the physician" (second: "answered the physician"). BAL 7600, Clark A16.1, Grolier American 59.
Seller: Arader Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$4250.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition. 8vo. A wonderful, expressive fine binding by Riviere & Son on a first edition of Hawthorne's most important work, in full crushed levant, the front cover bolding depicting the story's theme with a large scarlet morocco inlay of the letter ìAî, elaborately surrounded with gilt floral tools. The spine in 6 compartments, with 5 raised bands, gilt lettering in two compartments, top edge gilt. Binding signed in GILT STAMPñSIGNED PALLET BY RIVIERE & SON. Title page printed in red and black. The perfect expression of binding and title; a very attractive and well-preserved Riviere binding with expert front and rear hinge repair.
Seller: Nudelman Rare Books, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$4500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1850. Fine. 8vo, rebound in full red levant (large grain) morocco gilt with central letter A stamped in gilt on front cover within ruled border, spine gilt in compartments, gilt turn-ins and marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, by Bayntun Riviere; original brown cloth and advertisements dated March 1st bound in rear; the misprint "reduplicate" for "repudiate" at line 20 page 21; cloth slipcase. first edition, first issue. Contents fresh, no foxing. A beautiful book. BAL 7601.
Seller: Blue Sky Rare Books, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1850.
Price: US$4500.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First edition with all first issue points, including catalogue dated March 1, 1850. Octavo, publisher's brown cloth decoratively stamped in blind and letter in gilt at the spine (cloth along rear joint cracked nearly through exposing webbing, rear hinge cracking near bottom and tender, additional rubbing, minor soiling,previous owner's faint writing on front free end paper; a good, unsophisticated copy). Housed in custom-made green cloth clamshell case.
Seller: Bookbid, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE Nathaniel. Scarlet Letter. , 1850.
Price: US$5500.00 + shipping
Description: "HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter, a Romance. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1850. Octavo, 20th-century three-quarter red morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, top edge gilt. $5500.First edition of Hawthorne's American classic, one of only 2500 copies printed, handsomely bound."Since 1837, when he had written [the short story] 'Endicott and the Red Cross,' he had often been tormented by a symbola scarlet 'A,' worn by an adultress in that talewhich had, at last, worked its way into a full-length book" (Kunitz & Haycraft, 349). The first edition of The Scarlet Letter sold out in ten days and "made Hawthorne's fame, changed his fortune and gave to our literature its first symbolic novel a year before the appearance of Melville's Moby-Dick" (Bradley et al., 652). The novel "glows with the fire of a suppressed, secret, feverish excitement a fire that neither wanes nor lessens, but keeps at its original scorching heat for years" (Allibone I:805). Clark's typesetting states x2 and a2, no priority established. Without publisher's advertisements. Clark A16.1; BAL 7600. Wakeman 308. Bookplate.Only occasional light foxing, chiefly marginal; binding handsome and fine."
Seller: Bauman Rare Books, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Presented is a second edition printing of Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter, A Romance, with Hawthorne s signature tipped-in, facing the title page. This second edition was published in Boston by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields in 1850 and has the Metcalf and Company Cambridge imprint on the copyright page. Good condition overall. Signature reads Nath: Hawthorne in brown fountain ink. Some fading to signature, as well as damp staining to cut paper. Book paper is generally healthy, save light damp staining to a few leaves. Title printed in red and black. 4-page publisher's advertisements dated October 1, 1849 bound in front. Engraved bookplate on front paste-down endpaper. Rebound in 3/4 red leather and cloth boards, with raised bands, gilt tooling, and gilt titles to spine. Gilt tooling to front and back boards. New red marbled endpaper. Top edge gilt. Book presented with custom red cloth slipcase, with Hawthorne s portrait inlaid on front.
Seller: The Great Republic, Colorado Springs, CO, U.S.A.
Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter, A Romance. Ticknor, Reed & Fields, 1850.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: This is a very good copy of the 1850 first edition featuring the original Ticknor & Company brown cloth with ribbed spine and embossed decorations on both the front and back covers. Pages are clean and display typical condition for a book approaching 200 years old. Slight foxing to front and rear end-pages. 75 cent price in pencil inside front cover may be original retail price. No other marks. Printed by Metcalfe & Company, Cambridge, MA, 322 pages. Publisher's March 1, 1850 ads at front end-pages. All 'First' issue points present: page 21-line 20 has "reduplicate" for "Repudiate" p.41/5 "Characterss" p. 100/2: "mortal" for "moral" p. 102/22: "tobelieve" p.132/29: "catechism" for "catechisms" p.142/23: "heaven" for "heavenly" p. 189/23: "said" for "answered" 199/4: "known of it". Now stored in a beautiful custom "clamshell" case. Please see my attached photos. More available on request.
Seller: Virginia Books & More, Spotsylvania, VA, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter A Romance. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First edition with all the points called for. 8vo. Pp. [i-iii], 2-54, [55], 56-322, [323-324]. Original blind-stamped ribbed brown cloth, gilt lettering on spine. Early ownership name (Jon. A. French) in pencil on a front fly. Red morocco bookplate of noted financier, bibliophile and art collector Donald Stralem on the front pastedown, with corresponding offsetting bleeding through the two leaves of publisher ads. Minor expert restoration to spine ends and hinges. Cloth unusually fine; gilt quite bright. In a brown half morocco case, Fine but for loss of silk pull. The first edition of 2,500 copes published 16 March 1850 sold out in ten days: Hawthorne's fame was assured and, significantly, American literature was established as an art form distinct from the shackles of the English tradition. Walt Whitman, referencing Hawthorne's 1846 collection Mosses From an Old Manse, had complained, "shall real American genius shiver with neglect while the public runs after this foreign trash?" (quoted from Young America: Flowering of Democracy in New York City by Edward Widmer (Oxford, 1999). Hawthorne's answer was to produce the sublime work at-hand, literature's first symbolic novel.An exemplary copy that is certainly the finest we've seen. CLARK, A16; BAL, 7600. Original cloth housed in a custom half-morocco box
Seller: Long Brothers Fine & Rare Books, ABAA, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Description: Original brown cloth, stamped in gilt and blind. Small area of wear at the base of the spine, corners slightly rubbed, otherwise a fine copy. The gilt is bright, hinges sound, text block clean and fresh. March 1850 catalogue at front, slightly loose. Early ownership signature (Anna B. Greene, Brookfield, May 1850) on title page, chemise and half brown morocco case. BAL 7600.
Seller: Thomas A. Goldwasser Rare Books (ABAA), CHESTER, CT, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1850.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Octavo, original blind-stamped brown cloth. First edition of Hawthorne's classic, one of only 2500 copies printed. Very good original condition, with earliest ads (March 1, 1850) in the front. Laid in is a vintage photograph of Hawthorne. Housed in a custom-made box.
Seller: Bookbid, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$7800.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First edition, only printing with uncorrected errors: "reduplicate," "characterss" and "known of it." Contrary to popular belief, there are no points of issue for this title, but simple variations including two settings of gathering 21 which resulted in minute variations of no relevance in terms of "issue" in a proper sense. Bound in publisher's original brown ribbed cloth decorated in blind with spine lettered in gilt; publisher's ads at front dated March 1, 1850. Near Fine with sharp gilt lettering, lean to binding, light rubbing to cloth, wear to corners and spine ends, pages toned, bookplate of noted writer Eugene Field to front pastedown. A bright and unrestored copy. One of the most widely printed and acclaimed American novels of all time, a historical revisitation of Puritan Massachusetts.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$9500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: A very good first edition in original cloth. 1st issue with "reduplicate" on page 21. Housed in a custom made collector's slipcase.
Seller: Bookbid, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter [with signature]. Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, 1850.
Price: US$16500.00 + shipping
Description: First and only printing, with the contents listed on pp.iii-iv and without the preface added in the second edition. Octavo (19cm). Blindstamped brown cloth, titled in gilt on spine, pale yellow endpapers; iv,322pp. Title page printed in two colors. With Hawthorne's signature clipped from a Salem Custom-House document, and tipped in facing title page. Bookplate of Francis H. Underwood to front pastedown. Former dealer's pencil notes to front free e.p. A skillfully rebacked copy, with original backstrip laid down; expert conservation to board corners; straight, sound, and complete, the text quite fresh; Very Good. An appealing copy, despite the repairs, with Hawthorne's signature clipped from a customs document. Hawthorne famously wrote the novel while working at the Salem Custom House, and opened it with a frame narrative in which the narrator discovers the preserved scarlet A itself. A significant association copy, bearing the bookplate of the founder and first associate editor of The Atlantic Monthly, to which Hawthorne would become a regular a contributor. One of 2500 copies printed. State x1 of gathering 21 (no priority) and state a2 of the prelims, per Myerson. MYERSON 16.1. BAL 7600. GROLIER AMERICAN 100 no. 59.
Seller: Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA, Winchester, VA, U.S.A.
Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1ST ED., 1ST PRINTING, "SCARLET LETTER". Ticknor, Reed & Fields, 1850.
Price: US$17500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition, first printing, "Scarlet Letter: A Romance," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Boston, Ticknor, Reed & Fields: 1850. First printing with no preface and the word "reduplicate" on page 21. Includes March 1, 1850 ads. Has rare, authentic, original first-state, black-embossed cloth binding with gilt spine. No chips, no foxing, but with minor stains. Otherwise, very good condition, tight, complete as issued. 4-1/2" x 7-1/4". Title printed in red.
Seller: Antiquarian Bookstore, Portsmouth, NH, U.S.A.
Hawthorne Nathaniel. THE SCARLET LETTER. A Romance. Boston Ticknor, Reed and Fields 1850, 1850.
Price: US$20350.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition, First Issue, with ads dated March 1. 1850, no preface and all first edition points noted by Clark, including 'reduplicate for 'repudiate' on page 21. Title-page printed in red and black. 8vo, a rare survival in the publishers original Ticknor Style A brown textured cloth, the covers decorated in blind, the spine printed in gilt. Now protected and housed in a folding box of brown cloth covered boards lined with marbled paper, the back with brown leather label lettered and ruled in gilt. iv, 322 pp. A beautifully preserved copy, and a remarkably fine example of what is arguably the author's most important and most revered work, as well as a landmark of American literature. The text very clean and fresh, completely free of foxing or stains, looking to be near as pristine the binding sturdy and strong, the hinges fine and firm, the cloth rich and unfaded with bright gilt, trivial rubbing to the tips and edges. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING AND VERY RARE IN SUCH FINE CONDITION. IN THE ORIGINAL CLOTH, THIS IS CORNERSTONE WORK IN AMERICAN LITERATURE AND A LANDMARK WORK OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. An American Renaissance masterpiece and surely one of the most important works in the oeuvre of colonial America. More than any other work of literature, Hawthornes SCARLET LETTER set the stage for an understanding of the puritan mind and beginnings of the American social system. The first printing of THE SCARLET LETTER consisted of only 2500 copies, and sold out within days. It is said when Hawthorne delivered the final pages to Ticknor, Reed and Fields he doubted it would be popular, but THE SCARLET LETTER ushered in the most lucrative period of his long career. The public'a positive response was enormous, but the book was not without its critics. The publication brought protest from natives of Salem, who did not like how Hawthorne depicted their Puritan ancestors. Religious leaders also took issue with the novel's subject, and the 'Church Review' offered that the novel "perpetrates bad morals." Reviewers from the next generation proved more tolerant. Author D. H. Lawrence argued that there could not be a more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter. Henry James said of the novel; "It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne's best thingsan indefinable purity and lightness of conception. One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art."
Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Scarlet Letter. Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1850.
Price: US$22500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing SIGNED by Nathaniel Hawthorne on a laid in signature. This First Issue book has with the correct ads dated "March 1, 1850 and the misprint "reduplicate" for "repudiate" at line 20 page 21. A wonderful copy of this TRUE FIRST EDITION with light wear to the edges. The boards are crisp with minor wear. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a beautiful copy SIGNED by the author and housed in a custom clamshell slipcase for preservation. We buy Hawthorne First Editions.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.