She.; A History of Adventure
New York: Harper, 1887. First Edition. Hardcover. 1st edition, published Dec. 24, 1886 preceding the London edition of Jan. 1, 1887, though both title pages are dated 1887. Also preceding Munro’s pirated edition in wrappers dated Dec. 31, 1886 and Harper’s re–issue in wrappers. Original (publisher’s) 3/4 cloth (also seen in 1/2 cloth), sides rubbed but little other wear, name on endpaper, very good. Very good. Item #465
Our Harper U. S. edition is the real 1st edition. It’s 5 times rarer than Longman’s U. K. edition, and it has 15 illustrations by Edward K. Johnson (the U. K. edition is not illustrated). Now, the U. K. edition of an English author when the U. S. edition precedes, shades the U. K. edition of an American author when the U. S. edition precedes, but sellers who advise you to ignore the true 1st edition and always buy the 1st from the author’s country regardless, most often say so when they are trying to sell you a common and overvalued book, and are telling you to live your life in their little snow globe of passé bias where paper beats scissors. And they should be granted no more credibility than you’d grant a raving street corner derelict yelling “Defcon One” (Book Code).
She is a foundational work of fantasy literature. In it Haggard formulated the Lost World subgenre (earlier novels like King Solomon’s Mines and Journey to the Center of the Earth don’t strictly qualify on all counts). Tolkien said it had the most influence on him of any novel. There have been 11 films of She, the first in 1899 by Georges Méliès (as The Pillar of Fire), but more important in literature, She is the 10th best–selling (hardbound) novel of all time. So, you get fame, scarcity, significance, and quality for $375, another poke at today’s rare book market, ridiculing its inefficiency. Saving you a search, here are the 9 novels that have outsold She (in order): Don Quixote, A Tale of Two Cities, The Lord of the Rings, The Little Prince, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Hobbit, And Then There Were None, Dream of the Red Chamber, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Count of Monte–Cristo and Christmas Carol belong, and their sales numbers are huge, but not reliable). And that is quite an impressive list to be on, but whether She, or any of the others, will still be read for fun in the future is unfailingly unpredictable, the undeterminable unknown.
Price:
$375.00