Russell, Clark W.

8vo (188 x 123mm.), 3 volumes, first edition, half-titles, misprinted date on title page of volume 2 neatly corrected in ink (as in the Seybolt copy), 24pp. catalogue dated October 1867 at the end of volume 3, original red cloth, covers decorated in blind with central wreath designs, spines lettered in gilt, preserved in matching cloth chemises and full morocco slipcase, some wear and slight discolouration to the covers, lower hinge of volume 3 slightly cracked

Wolff 6025; not in Sadleir

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

One of only two recorded copies in cloth of the author's first novel: a legendary Victorian rarity. No copy of this novel has been sold at auction in at least the last 35 years.

For a long time this novel was unrecorded, and indeed some thought it had never been published. It was issued in a very small edition, and the author is thought to have later bought up and destroyed many copies. When Robert Lee Wolff wrote his article for The Book Collector in 1965 ("Contemporary Collectors XLII. Nineteenth-Century Fiction I", pp.335-347) only three copies had been located: his own, in a secondary binding of sage-green morocco cloth, a copy in Paul Seybolt's library (in boards, later sold in 1970), and the one in the British Library (also in the publisher's cloth). Since then two further copies have come to light, one offered by the dealer Brimmel (3 volumes in one, in a remainder binding), and the present copy, the only other set known in the original cloth.

The novelist William Clark Russell (1844-1911) served for several years in the merchant navy, making voyages to India, Australia and China, before retiring in 1866 and adopting a literary career as a writer of nautical adventures (he may have inherited his taste for writing from his mother, a relative of William Wordsworth). Over the next thirty years he produced more than fifty novels, with the Wreck of the Grosvenor acknowledged as his masterpiece.