Lot 4117 email save

Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, first issue, 1850

Sign In to see what this sold for

Title: The Scarlet Letter: A Romance
Author: Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Description: iv, 322, [2 blank] pp. + 4-pg publishers' advertisement inserted between front endpapers. Title printed in red and black. 7x4½, original blind-stamped brown cloth, rebacked with original gilt-lettered spine strip laid on. Housed in a custom morocco-backed clamshell box. First Edition, First Issue.
First edition of this high spot of American literature centering around accused adulteress, Hester Prynne. With the advertisements dated "March 1, 1850" and the misprint "reduplicate" for "repudiate" at line 20 page 21. This copy with the neat signature of "J. Buckingham" on the front pastedown. Joseph T. Buckingham (1779-1861) was an American literary editor and early proponent of Hawthorne's works. He had accepted Hawthorne's "Story Teller" to the New-England Magazine in 1834 (though it never appeared due to Buckingham's resignation). BAL 7600.
Heading: Place Published: Boston
Publisher: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields
Date Published: 1850