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BELL, Currer. [BRONTE, Charlotte]. VILLETTE.. Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York, 1853.

Price: US$600.00 + shipping

Description: iv, 502 [6] 6 + 6 pp. (ads). 12mo, publisher's plum blind-embossed cloth, gilt-lettered at the spine. First American edition. Spine very slightly faded with some light use at the head and foot; several tiny holes to joints; light foxing; but a very attractive copy of a scarce book.

Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.

[Bronte, Charlotte] Bell, Currer. Villette. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1853.

Price: US$1250.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: With original front wrapper lacking rear wrapper. Front wrapper with a few short tears. Spine worn, with most of backstrip perished. Plain rear wrapper added later. Octavo (226 x 142 mm.). A textually complete copy, including 4 leaves of advertisements at the rear. Text in double columns, collating: 184, [4 leaves ads]. A bit of foxing, otherwise a Very Good copy. Smith claims no priority between this edition and the one in cloth, but the differing page-counts suggest priority exists (the type was completely reset and the clothbound copy has over 500 pages); either way the wrapper edition is much scarcer. Housed in a custom paper-covered slipcase. "Charlotte Bronte's final masterpiece powerfully portrays a woman struggling to reconcile love, jealousy, and a fierce desire for independence. Having fled a harrowing past in England, Lucy Snowe begins a new life teaching at a boarding school in the great capital of a foreign country. There, as she tries to achieve independence from both outer necessity and inward grief, she finds that her feelings for a worldly doctor and a dictatorial professor threaten her hard-won self possession. Published initially in 1853, Charlotte Bronte's last novel was written in the wake of her grief at the death of her siblings. It has a dramatic force comparable to that of her other masterpiece, Jane Eyre, as well as a striking modernity of psychological insight and a revolutionary understanding of human loneliness" (Vintage). Harper's Library of Select Novels, No. 182. Smith 146-152. Very Good.

Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.

Bronte, Charlotte (Bell, Currer). Villette. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1853.

Price: US$1650.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Very good, first American edition in soft wrappers. This is No. 182 of Harper's Library of Select Novels. Intact covers and spine; soiled overall and with several stains and scuffs, some sunning. Faint pencilled writing in upper right corner of front wrapper. External text page edges are rough trimmed and age- and soil-darkened. Edges at head and tail of spine are rubbed and with loss of up to 1/2" across width at the tail and up to 1/8" at head of spine - see photo. Wrapper edges are chipped and creased, left edge of back wrapper is softened and curled and has several closed horizontal tears of 1/4" or less. Following the text are four numbered pages of 'A List of Books published by Harper & Brothers', and an additional four pages of detailed descriptions about another five books. Page 4 of the first list and the first page of the other selections are unopened and attached at the top edges. Foxing mostly in the margins of text pages, else internally clean. Text block is snug. Please use close-up option for best inspection and in support of condition description. Additional photos available at your request. International sales to all countries other than the UK and Canada will require use of an alternative shipping company which will result in higher than the stated shipping costs. A signature upon receipt may also be required.

Seller: R & G Bliss Books, Excelsior, MN, U.S.A.