[Rarebooks] FS: 6 copies of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN including first editions and signed copies

[Charles Agvent]

1.  STOWE,  Harriet Beecher. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN.... London: Bohn  1852.
Octavo.  xx,  483  pp.  Original green cloth. One  of  a  few  English
editions  printed  the same year as the first, this edition not  being
very  common.  Illustrations by Leech, Gilbert, etc. Front hinge  with
old glue repair. Very Good                        $150.00

2.  STOWE,  Harriet Beecher (COVARRUBIAS, Miguel). UNCLE TOM'S  CABIN.
New  York:  Limited  Editions  Club 1938.  348  pp.  Quarto  (7-1/2" x
10-1/2")  bound in half brown morocco with morocco corners and marbled
boards.  Introduction by Raymond Weaver. Copy #403 of 1500 illustrated
with  sixteen  powerful  lithographs  drawn on  the  stone  by  Miguel
Covarrubias  and  SIGNED  by  the artist on the  colophon  page.  Mild
sunning  to  spine and very faint wear to spine tips and fore-edge  of
slip  case.  Just  about  Fine in  similar  slipcase.  Uncommon  thus.
                                                  $750.00

3.  STOWE,  Harriet  Beecher. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; OR,  LIFE  AMONG  THE
LOWLY.  Boston:  John  P.  Jewett & Co.  1852.  First  Edition.  First
Printing.  Two  volumes  bound by Bennett in early  twentieth  century
full  brown morocco with gilt lettering and rules, five raised  bands,
gilt dentelles, and marbled endpapers. [iii]-x, [13]-312; [i]-iv, [5]-
322  pages. Illustrated with title page engravings and six plates. Per
BAL  19343,  this set has the single imprint on both copyright  pages.
Interestingly,  all 7 points of the first volume are later issue,  and
all  11 points of the second volume are first issue. Grolier  American
100,  61;  Printing and the Mind of Man 332: "In  the  emotion-charged
atmosphere  of  mid-nineteenth  century   America  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin
exploded  like  a bombshell. To those engaged in fighting  slavery  it
appeared  as  an  indictment of all the evils inherent in  the  system
they  opposed; to the pro-slavery forces it was a slanderous attack on
'the  Southern  way of life.' The social impact of [the novel] on  the
United  States  was  greater than that of any book before  or  since."
When  Abraham Lincoln met its author at the White House in 1862, he is
said  to have exclaimed, "So this is the little lady who made this big
war?"  This first printing of five thousand copies was exhausted  in a
few  days,  and  the  book eventually sold more  copies  in  the  19th
century  than any other book except the Bible. This set was  presented
to  Helen  Hayes in 1943 when she starred as Harriet Beecher Stowe  on
Broadway  in  HARRIET. Laid in are two cards, one signed by  the  crew
and  the other by the cast of the play which was staged by Elia  Kazan
and  ran for 377 performances. A clean set, beautifully bound and with
a fine provenance.                            $5000.00

4.  STOWE,  Harriet  Beecher. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; OR,  LIFE  AMONG  THE
LOWLY.  Boston: John P. Jewett & Co. 1852. First Edition. First volume
is  twenty-fifth  and  the second volume twentieth  thousand.  In  the
special  gift  binding which BAL 19343 notes as Binding C. Extra  gilt
binding  with  decorations on spines and all covers, all  edges  gilt,
and  patterned  endpapers. [iii]-x, [13]-312; [i]-iv,  [5]-322  pages.
Illustrated  with title page engravings and six plates. This set  with
the  later  Rand imprint on both copyright pages and  all  corrections
made,  as  expected for a printing after the first.  Grolier  American
100,  61;  Printing and the Mind of Man 332: "In  the  emotion-charged
atmosphere  of  mid-nineteenth  century   America  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin
exploded  like  a bombshell. To those engaged in fighting  slavery  it
appeared  as  an  indictment of all the evils inherent in  the  system
they  opposed; to the pro-slavery forces it was a slanderous attack on
'the  Southern  way of life.' The social impact of [the novel] on  the
United  States  was  greater than that of any book before  or  since."
When  Abraham Lincoln met its author at the White House in 1862, he is
said  to have exclaimed, "So this is the little lady who made this big
war?"  This first printing of five thousand copies was exhausted  in a
few  days,  and  the  book eventually sold more  copies  in  the  19th
century  than  any  other  book except the Bible.  This  printing  was
likely  a month or so after the initial printing. Small address  label
on  front  endpaper of first volume; light pencil signatures  in  each
volume.  Occasional  staining  but  generally  quite  clean.  Bindings
slightly  cocked  with minor edgewear but nice examples. A  Very  Good
set in the uncommon gift binding.              $2000.00

5.  STOWE,  Harriet  Beecher. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; OR,  LIFE  AMONG  THE
LOWLY.  Volume  I  of THE WRITINGS [WORKS] OF HARRIET  BEECHER  STOWE.
Cambridge:  Riverside Press 1896. First Edition. The first volume of a
sixteen-volume  set containing the first half of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, in
publisher's  gray  cloth with a paper spine label. BAL 19508. This  is
from  the  Large-Paper Edition and is copy #163 of only 250 SIGNED  by
the  author  and  dated  5  January 1896 on a  leaf  inserted  by  the
publisher.  The  elderly  and rather feeble-minded  Stowe  signed  and
dated  the sheets for this edition between 4 January and 12 June  1896
(she  died  on  1  July 1896), making this one  of  the  first  signed
sheets.  Her writing is very neat, and it's likely she labored to sign
each  sheet as her hand was quite shaky late in her life.  Illustrated
with  a  frontispiece  engraved portrait of the author.  Bookplate  of
Frank  Watson  Hastings,  designed by M. F. Hackley in  1909,  on  the
front pastedown. Light soiling. Very Good or better.   $1500.00

6.  STOWE,  Harriet  Beecher. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; OR,  LIFE  AMONG  THE
LOWLY.  Boston  &  New  York: Houghton, Mifflin &  Company  1891.  New
Edition.  Reprint of the New Edition with a new introduction by Stowe
first  issued  in 1879. Original green cloth with black stamping  on a
partial  gilt background on the spine. Illustrated with a frontispiece
engraving  of  a  scene from the novel. INSCRIBED and  SIGNED  by  the
author  on  the  front  blank: "And behold the  tears/of  such  as  an
oppressed/and  on the side of their/oppressors there was  power./Eccle
4.1/Harriet  Beecher  Stowe/Hartford  Aug 4. 1891." Mild  soiling  and
aging. Very Good with an excellent inscription.        $5000.00

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CHARLES AGVENT
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Mertztown, PA  19539-8750
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