Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
JAMES, HENRY [ HENRY JAMES, JR. ]. Watch and Ward. Boston: Houghton Osgood and Company, 1878.
Price: US$85.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition in book form, preceded by the serialization in Atlantic Monthly magazine in 1871. Hardcover in 3/4 leather, marbled endpapers, spine in 6 compartments with 2 lettered in gilt, front cover detached [photo]; binding square and tight, pages clean and unmarked save for previous owner name on title page [photo]. from Wikipedia: "This was James' first novel, though he virtually disowned the book later in life. James later called Roderick Hudson (1875) his first novel instead of Watch and Ward."
Seller: Stony Hill Books, Madison, WI, U.S.A.
JAMES, HENRY [ HENRY JAMES, JR. ]. Watch and Ward. Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Co., 1878, 1878.
Price: US$225.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. 12mo; 219 pp. Marginal stain to final 30 pp.; owner's name & date 1878; slight wear to spine ends; else a good copy or better in gilt-stamped red cloth. First issue, with blank leaf following p. 219.
Seller: Trevian Books, Piermont, NY, U.S.A.
James, Henry Jr.. Watch and Ward. Houghton, Osgood and Co., Boston, 1878.
Price: US$446.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Small book, brown cloth (less than 6" by 4 1/4"), gilt very good on front and spine, pencil name and date on first front end paper, 219 pages, light surface wear to top tips, tiny tear at bottom front tip, both spine edges, ornate embossed design on front, spine and back, blank page after final page. Near Good.
Seller: Callaghan Books South, New Port Richey, FL, U.S.A.
James, Henry, Jr. (1843-1916). Watch and Ward. Houghton, Osgood and Company, Boston, 1878.
Price: US$575.00 + shipping
Description: Henry James's first novel, originally published serially in the Atlantic Monthly in 1871, and here for the first time in book form. The simple and melodramatic plot caused James to essentially disown this work, instead referring to the far more substantial "Roderick Hudson" as his first novel as his career took off. This is one of the 1,000 copies in the first printing of May 29, 1878, in bright green cloth (Edel, binding "a"). Ref. EDEL and LAWRENCE, A6. Near fine, with a few light extremity rubs. Spine a bit cocked. Green cloth over boards stamped in gilt and blind, tan endpapers, all textblock edges red. Original cloth over boards. Eighteenmo. 219 pages
Seller: Back Creek Books LLC, ABAA/ILAB, Annapolis, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$644.13 + shipping
Description: First edition, one of 1,000 copies. The book was never printed in the UK, with US editions shipped across the ocean for UK consumers. The story first appeared in 1871 in the Atlantic Monthly before being revised and published in this format. Edel & Laurence A6; Supino 6.1.0. Small octavo. Original red cloth, titles and decoration to spine and upper board gilt and blind-stamped, tan coated endpapers, red edges. Housed in a red quarter morocco box. Minor soiling and rubbing to cloth, gilt bright: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Henry James Jr.. Watch and Ward. Houghton, Osgood and Company, Boston, 1878.
Price: US$895.34 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: The first edition in book form of Henry James's debut novel. The first edition in book form of this work, in Edel & Laurence binding a, retaining final blank. A6.One-thousand copies of this first edition were produced.James's first novel - initially serialised in 1871 in the Atlantic Monthly - follows a wealthy man who adopts a twelve year old girl after her father kills himself.James eventually disowned the novel, likely due to the melodramatic and predicable plot. From 1883 onwards, he referred to 'Roderick Hudson' as his first novel. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, bright, with bumping to back strip head and tail. Front hinge strained but firmly held. Significant closed tear to head of front free endpaper. Internally, firmly bound. Pages clean and bright. Very Good
Seller: Rooke Books PBFA, Bath, United Kingdom
James, Jr., Henry. WATCH AND WARD. Houghton, Osgood and Company, Boston, 1878.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Description: First Printing, one of 1,000 copies. 18mo. (15.5cm); emerald green cloth, with titling and decorative elements stamped in gilt and blind-embossed onto spine and covers; brown endpapers; all edges stained red; [ii],[5],6-219,[3]pp. Some trivial external wear, spine ends just barely nudged, else a fresh, very Near Fine copy, with the cloth quite vibrant, and the red edge-staining perfectly even. A sharp copy of James's first novel, serialized between August-December, 1871 in the Atlantic Monthly. It did not appear in book format until Osgood proposed publication in April, 1878. James implemented moderate revisions to the text between the serialization and it's appearance in book format; even so, he was ashamed of the novel, all but disowning it in his later life, and choosing rather to favor Roderick Hudson as his debut. Edel & Laurence A6; BAL 10535.
Seller: Captain Ahab's Rare Books, ABAA, Stephenson, VA, U.S.A.