[Rarebooks] FS: The 161st Birthday of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

[Charles Agvent]

Published today, 161 years ago:

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?" The 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 the front endpaper of the 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. (#012900) 
     $2,000.00

http://home.ptd.net/~chagvent/012900.JPG

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