Familiar Epistle in Verse and Prose.

Stevenson, R.L. ; Wise, T.J.

Published by Privately printed [for T.J.Wise], London, unauthorized first edition, 1896, 1896

About this Item

Limited edition of 27 copies printed for T.J. Wise, all on Whatman handmade paper (the figure of 27 coming from the Ashley Library catalogue). Japanese vellum boards, gilt spine-title, 8vo, 19 pp, frontispiece facsimile plate and one facsimile in the text. A private printing for the forger T.J. Wise, who owned the manuscript. Wise's Ashley Library device appears at the end and the volume is one of 'The Ashley Library Series of Privately Printed Books.' Wise sent Wrenn a copy in November 1896 and no doubt gave away or sold most of the remainder. Slater's 1914 Bibliography of Stevenson notes that "Several copies of this privately printed pamphlet have occurred for sale, though not recently". Barker & Collins in "Sequel to An Enquiry" record that 16 copies were sold at auction between 1897 and 1920 and conclude that the volume is "a patent piracy, regularly marketed with the forgeries". The 1913 Widener Stevenson catalogue had described the volume as a "forged curiosity", a phrase used of it by Edward Gosse. Stevenson's executors took legal advice on bringing an action for breach of copyright - letters from their solicitors attempting to trace the ownership of the manuscript and identify the person responsible for its printing appear in Volume IV of the Beinecke Stevenson catalogue. But it seems the executors had left it rather late after publication and Wise escaped having to defend his publication in court. The Epistle was addressed by Stevenson to Mr. Charles Baxter, (one of his executors), and is dated 'Boulogne-sur-Mer, Wednesday, 3rd or 4th September 1872.' The frontispiece is a facsimile on Japanese vellum of one of the stanzas of the Epistle in Stevenson's hand, and a facsimile of his signature to the Epistle appears on page 17. Todd 286d, Prideaux 47. Spine worn and torn with some loss and browned, boards somewhat darkened, contents Very Good. Seller Inventory # ABE-59295

Bibliographic Details

Title: Familiar Epistle in Verse and Prose.

Publisher: Privately printed [for T.J.Wise], London, unauthorized first edition, 1896

Publication Date: 1896

Binding: Hardcover

Edition: 1st Edition