[Rarebooks] FS : THE ETERNAL EMMA

[Norman Kane]

FLAUBERT, GUSTAVE.   MADAME BOVARY. A TALE OF PROVINCIAL LIFE. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY JOHN STIRLING [Pseud.]  Phila.: T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 306 Chestnut St., (cop. 1881.)  First U. S. edition and the almost unknown first edition in English. The translator was Mary Neal Sherwood, who beat Eleanor Marx Aveling to it by 5 years.  (It is interesting that both these pioneer translators of the work were  women.  Sherwood translated a number of French books, including works by Zola and Daudet.)  Approx. 6-3/4 X 5-1/2 inches, original blue cloth stamped in black and gold,  front inner joint just starting to open, bookplate of J. Geo. Hinntz's Circulating Library (Hintz was a 19th Century bookseller & stationer in Reading, Pa.) Pages [17] - 384 plus 8 leaves of advts. The advts have advance notice for Peterson's 1881 magazine, suggesting that the book is in the earliest possible state.  Inflating the pagination of their books was a common trick of American publishers of sensational works in the 19th Century.  OCLC records only 3 copies. $1500.00

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