Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. American Stationers Co., Boston, 1837.

Price: US$875.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Publisher's original brown, embossed, cloth-covered boards, rebacked in yellow cloth with paper spine label and new endpapers [though the original free endpapers and final blank have been retained]. Complete with the four pages of integral ads at the front and a twelve page publisher's catalogue inserted at the back [Clark notes catalogues of 8, 12, 14, and 16 pp. with no priority]. Hawthorne's second separate publication and the first to carry his name on the title-page. Some scattered light foxing, heavier on the first and last few pages. A good copy of a scarce and important book, containing some of the author's best known short fiction, including 'The Minister's Black Veil' and 'The Gentle Boy.' One of 1000 copies. Clark A 2.1.

Seller: Clarel Rare Books, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice Told Tales. American Stationers Co, Boston, 1837.

Price: US$1400.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: First edition. BAL 7581. Four pages of ads preceding; sixteen following; '78' for '76' in table of contents. Ornate early twentieth-century American binding, from the Bennett Book Studios of New York, with two samples of the original quatrefoil cloth bound in behind the text. Twentieth century bookplate of "James Wilson Mull". Minimal foxing, upper corner missing to first page of ads. 334pp. 7.75 x 5.25"

Seller: B Street Books, ABAA and ILAB, San Mateo, CA, U.S.A.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. Boston: American Stationers Co., 1837.

Price: US$1500.00 + shipping

Condition: Near Fine

Description: First edition, first state, with fifth story in collection listed in table of contents as starting on p. 78, though it actually starts on p. 77; 4pp. of ads at front of book and 16pp. of ads at rear. In a red morocco Sangorski & Sutcliffe binding, with boards and spine elaborately decorated and ruled in gilt, five raised bands to spine, top edge gilt, and marbled endpapers. Near fine, with light rubbing and splitting to binding at joints, and a touch of offsetting to endpaper margins. Overall, a gorgeously bound copy, very clean internally. Twice-Told Tales is a collection of eighteen short stories penned by Hawthorne, all of which were previously published in magazines (hence "twice-told"). The collection was Hawthorne's second book, published after his commercially unsuccessful debut, Fanshawe (1828). In 1842, an expanded edition of Twice-Told Tales was published. In his famous review of the work, Edgar Allen Poe wrote, "We look upon [Hawthorne] as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth." A short story writer for much of his writing career, Hawthorne achieved success as a novelist in the early 1850s, publishing The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851).

Seller: B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.

HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. , 1837.

Price: US$2750.00 + shipping

Description: HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. Original brown cloth, housed in red morocco-backed folding box. Boston: American Stationers Co., 1837. First edition. BAL 7581. Clark A2.1. Wright I:1149. With 16-page publisher's catalogue. Hawthorne's second book and his first collection of short stories, including the memorable "The May-Pole of Merry Mount," "The Great Carbuncle," and "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment." With the bookplate of Florence & Edward Kay, great collector's of mystery and detective fiction. Expertly rebacked, original spine laid down, faint scattered foxing to leaves and foredge, bookplate, early ownership signature, else a very good or better copy.

Seller: G.S. MacManus Co., ABAA, Bryn Mawr, PA, U.S.A.

Nathaniel Hawthorn. Twice-Told Tales. American Stationers Co., Boston, 1837.

Price: US$2895.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: First edition of Hawthorne's second book. One of only 1000 copies printed. Octavo. 334 pages. Publisher's rose cloth stamped in a blind floral pattern with gilt spine titles. Complete with four pages of advertisements preceding title and the 16 page publisher's catalogue at end. Minor strengthening to spine extremities. Front hinge cracked. Rear hinge split with broken cords and the rear free endpaper partially detached. Rear joint split two and one-half-inches. Scattered small stains and foxing. Tiny area of worming at rear, not affecting text. A very good copy in the notoriously fragile publisher's binding. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and slipcase. All these tales first appeared in The Token or the New England Magazine, and were assembled and edited by Hawthorne for this collection. 1,000 copies were published in March 1837. BAL 7581; Clark A 2.1; Grolier American 44.

Seller: Sam Barcelo, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. TWICE-TOLD TALES. American Stationers Co., 1837.

Price: US$3250.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: 8vo; 334 pp; First edition, first state. Very light edge wear on boards and spine. Bookplate has been removed from front pastedown, resulting in some loss of paper. Foxing on endpages, light occasional foxing throughout. Paper on front inner hinge is starting to crack but binding is secure. An attractive book.

Seller: GLOVER'S BOOKERY, ABAA, Lexington, KY, U.S.A.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. Boston: American Stationers Co., 1837.

Price: US$4500.00 + shipping

Condition: Near Fine

Description: Original green cloth. Minor fading and rubbing. An excellent tight copy. Cloth case. First edition of Hawthorne s first collection of short stories. This important collection includes eighteen tales published in magazines and annuals and a newspaper hence Twice-Told. Many have become key works in the American literary canon, but in 1837, Hawthorne was perhaps still the obscurest man of letters in America (Hawthorne Centenary Edition). Hawthorne s title, Twice-Told Tales, was based on a line from Shakespeare s Life and Death of King John: Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, / Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man. The tales are twice-told because Hawthorne had published them individually in magazines and annuals before collecting them in this, his first published book. To this little work we would say, Live ever, sweet, sweet book. It comes from the hand of a man of genius. Everything about it has the freshness of morning and of May these tales are national in their character exciting beauty of his style, as clear as running waters are (H. W. Longfellow). Of Mr. Hawthorne s Tales we would say emphatically, that they belong to the highest region of Art an Art subservient to genius of a very lofty order the style is purity itself. Force abounds. High imagination gleams from every page We know of few compositions which the critic can more honestly commend than these Twice-Told Tales. As Americans, we feel proud of the book (Edgar Allan Poe)

Seller: 19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop, Stevenson, MD, U.S.A.

HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. American Stationers' Company, Boston, 1837.

Price: US$5000.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: 8vo. Pp. [4], 12-234, [16] of publisher's advertising. Rib-embossed blue-green publisher's cloth, gilt stamped titles in frame on the spine, publisher's circular device on the title page. Light stains to cloth and spine a trifle sunned, corners crisp with edges minimally rubbed, hinges and gutters intact, top edge dust-soiled, light scattered foxing. Name of early owner R. Dodge in ink on FFEP. Bookplate of Lawrence Waters Jenkins.Custom drop-down-back clamshell case, polished dark green calf over dark green cloth, gilt stamped titles and rules, five raised bands, gray Canson art paper lining. First edition, only printing. This collection was the first appearance of Hawthorne stories under his name. The relatively small first edition of 1000 was slow to sell but favorably reviewed and immediately won him high standing. (The publisher did not survive the Panic of 1837.) An attractive copy in an enchanting binding variant of this scarce edition.Fellow Salem native Lawrence Waters Jenkins was Curator of Ethnology at the Peabody Museum 1901-1949; his impressive bookplate features the image of a club from the Marquesas Islands.CLARK, A2.1; BAL, 7581. Cover is now protected in a removable, clear archival sleeve.

Seller: Long Brothers Fine & Rare Books, ABAA, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. American Stationers Co., John B. Russell, Boston, 1837.

Price: US$5000.00 + shipping

Description: First edition. Publisher's circular device on title-page. [4, ads], [5]-334, [2], [16, catalogue] pp. 1 vols. 8vo. His Second Book. Hawthorne's second book, and although it was not the dismal failure that Fanshawe had been, it attracted hardly any notice when it was issued thus in 1837. Now, of course, it is one of the most famous collections of short fiction in American literature. Vincent Starrett said of the story "Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe": "it comes close to becoming a detective story in the purest sense" and Edgar Allan Poe said the story is "vividly original and managed most dexterously" (see Queen's Quorum, p. 10). BAL 7581; Clarke A2.1; Wilson 129. Provenance: Henry R. Cleveland (bookplate and pencil inscription on title, Burlington 1837); Agnes Neustadt (bookplate) Publisher's brown embossed cloth, title stamped in gilt to spine. Light wear and staining to covers, cloth split at rear joint, foxing throughout. In a custom blue morocco pull-of case, gilt, by Stikeman Publisher's circular device on title-page. [4, ads], [5]-334, [2], [16, catalogue] pp. 1 vols. 8vo

Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804-1864). Twice-Told Tales. American Stationers Co, Boston, 1837.

Price: US$5175.00 + shipping

Description: Hawthorne's third publication in book form and the first to bear his name. This collection of 18 stories won immediate recognition for its author, though all had previously appeared in annuals or magazines. Hawthorne himself assembled and edited them for this collection. The included story "Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe" is very close to being a detective story in the purest sense. Indeed, none other than Edgar Allan Poe, (whose "Murders in the Rue Morgue," published four years later, and often credited with the first modern detective story) called Hawthorne's story "vividly original and managed most dexterously." One of just 1,000 copies printed. Tall copy with bright original gilt on spine. In custom black Morocco-backed cloth slipcase with bands and gilt titles to spine, with book in inner chemise. Two prior owner bookplates--1) that of Carolyn Wells, prolific author, and co-author of the first bibliography of Walt Whitman and 2) that of early 20th century Unitarian minister, Louis H. Buckshorn. A very well-preserved copy of this scarce early Hawthorne book. Ref. CLARK A2.1; BAL 7581. Mild scattered foxing, some extremity rubs and shallow chips to cloth along board edges. Hinges not cracked but joints have a few splits. Original cloth over boards. Duodecimo. 334 pages (with 4 pages ads at front, 12 pages ads at back)

Seller: Back Creek Books LLC, ABAA/ILAB, Annapolis, MD, U.S.A.

Hawthorne Nathaniel. TWICE-TOLD TALES. Boston American Stationers Co. 1837, 1837.

Price: US$5445.00 + shipping

Description: The First Issue of the True First Edition, very scarce and significantly important. With American Stationers Co.'s circular quill imprint on the title-page. 8vo, publisher's original textured brown/black cloth, with the spine lettered in gilt within a gilt frame. While there are known variations to the bindings no priority is given and all first edition copies are first printing, first issue. Now housed in a handsome light brown cloth-covered folding box with two dark brown morocco labels lettered and ruled in gilt. 4 ads, 334, 16 catalogue pp. An unusually handsome and well preserved copy, very scarce as such, the text with far less than the typical foxing that is always present due to the paper stock used, otherwise extremely clean and fresh, the hinges solid and firm, the binding dark and unfaded with bright gilt, very minor wear or rubbing at the tips and extremities, the front blank free-fly with a small amount of loss to the bottom outside corner, and a short closed tear without loss to the first leaf of the advertisement catalogue, early ownership notation of Eliz. L. Parkman. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, RARE, AND ONLY THE SECOND BOOK PUBLISHED BY HAWTHORNE AND THE FIRST ONE TO ACTUALLY BEAR HIS NAME. As Hawthorne was a young and relatively unknown writer at the time, the print run was understandably rather small, recorded as only 1000 copies printed. That fact, along with the low production values continue to make TWICE-TOLD TALES one of the most scarce of all the author's works. Released in the spring of 1837, TWICE-TOLD TALES is a collection of short stories all of which had been previously printed only in various magazines and annuals, thus Hawthorne's title of "Twice-Told". The stories had been published anonymously, as was FANSHAWE, his first published book. Hawthorne enjoyed calling the stories 'twice-told' as this was also a reference to Shakespeare's 'King John'. A third aspect of the 'twice-told' scenario is the fact that many of them are ironic retellings of familiar older stories and tropes. While reviews were largely positive (his college mate from Bowdoin, Henry W. Longfellow, reviewed it in the North American Review with extreme praise) sales were slow, and then were halted completely by the Panic of '37. The book may have been the first to make a name for the author, but it would not make him wealthy. There was no second edition until 1842, and at that time many more tales, and a second volume, were added. That edition was noticed far and wide, and many of the stories have lived on and are now considered American classics.

Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.

HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel.. Twice-Told Tales.. Boston: American Stationers Co., 1837, 1837.

Price: US$7729.58 + shipping

Description: First edition of the author's second book, his first short story collection, and one of the greatest collections of short fiction in American literature. Twice-Told Tales is the first book Hawthorne published under his own name: his short stories had previously been published in periodicals anonymously, as had his first novel, Fanshawe, but in 1837 his "status as 'the obscurest man of letters in America' ended when Twice-Told Tales was published with his name on the cover. The eighteen tales Hawthorne selected from the dozens already in print were clearly calculated to display his range and to win literary recognition. Genial sketches of everyday life, such as 'Little Annie's Ramble' and the even more popular 'A Rill from the Town-Pump', appealed especially to his women readers, as did the celebration of marital love that Longfellow liked best, 'The Great Carbuncle'. But Hawthorne also included speculative sketches such as 'Wakefield' and disturbing stories about the Puritan past such as 'The Minister's Black Veil' and 'The Gentle Boy'. Readers who had admired those stories before now learned Hawthorne's name, and he could anticipate widening his readership and opening 'an intercourse with the world'" (ANB). The book also resulted in Hawthorne's introduction to his future wife, Sophia Peabody, who he would marry five years later. The book was reviewed positively on publication, including by Hawthorne's friend, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and by Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote that he had "seen no prose composition by any American which can compare with some of these articles. The style of Mr. Hawthorne is purity itself. His tone is singularly effective - wild, plaintive, thoughtful, and in full accordance with his themes. We look upon him as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth" (Graham's Magazine). This copy is from the library of the distinguished book collector Carrie Estelle Doheny (1875-1958), with her morocco book label on the front pastedown. Doheny's library in Camarillo, California "represented one of the rarest book libraries in the United States. Within the collection, 4,000 volumes were rare books and first editions" (Bakken & Farrington, p. 97). BAL 7581; Clarke A2.1; Wilson 129. Gordon Morris Bakken and Brenda Farrington, eds, Encyclopedia of Women in the American West, 2003. Octavo. Original red-brown ribbed cloth, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, 16 pp. publisher's catalogue at rear. Housed in custom quarter red morocco slipcase and chemise. Spine lightly worn at foot, cloth sunned and marked, contents foxed, a couple of gatherings slightly proud. A very good copy.

Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom