HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL | The Scarlet Letter, A Romance. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1850

The Property of a Gentleman

HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL

 The Scarlet Letter, A Romance. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1850

8vo. Title-page printed in red and black, 4pp. publisher's advertisement dated 1 March 1850, final plank present. Original brown cloth decoratively ruled and stamped in blind, spine gilt-lettered, yellow endpapers; very lightly rubbed. Half brown morocco slipcase. 

First edition, the Bradley Martin copy. One of 2,500 copies, with all the variants listed by Clark, except the spelling "Catechism" on page 132.29. Gathering 21 appears to be in state xl and the copyright notice in state a2 with the "N" beneath the "r" in "according" and the "1" in "192" loosened on the table of contents page. 

A very nice copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s an iconic tale of guilt and redemption set in Puritan Massachusetts. The Scarlet Letter has long been considered one of the greatest American novel.

REFERENCE:

BAL 7600; Clark A16.1; Grolier American 59

PROVENANCE:

George L. Pratt (signature to preliminary blank) — Mary Bryant Sprague (bookplate to front pastedown) — Mildreth Greenhill (bookplate to front pastedown) — H. Bradley Martin (bookplate to front pastedown; his sale, Sotheby's New York, 30 January 1990, lot 2066)