About this Item
First Edition (SD). Well, this is a sharp turn from listing books that were signed and inscribed to George Plimpton. But, this too, is a rather rare book. I found only one other for sale on the Internet. That one was an ex-library book. That is not the case here. And this book is Signed, flat-signed on the first front end paper by the author, William Henry Porter (see photo). You can see the maroon covers in the photos. I would say they are in better shape than most books published in 1887. There's a little bit of wear at the spine ends, also several little wrinkles halfway down the spine. A little discoloration above the bottom edge of the spine has de-gilted a couple of letters in the publisher's name. The gilt lettering at the top of the spine is still reasonably bright. The corners have only small spots of rub-through. The edges are in very good shape. There is a light stain on the rear cover, not very conspicuous, I just noticed it. The book is nicely square, the spine is not slanted. The first two pages, the blank front end papers (including the signed page), have a little bit of wear at their outer edge with a few tiny losses there. Between the verso of the blank second front end paper and the title page there is a crack with webbing showing from bottom to top. However, importantly, the impact of this is only to give the front cover a very small amount of give. In other words, the front cover is still solidly bound and is at no risk of becoming detached. Between the rear inside cover and the rear end paper and between the rear end papers themselves there are also cracks, somewhat thinner, with webbing visible from the side. One of the blank rear end papers has detached. The rear cover actually has only a few little places where it there is a crack with webbing showing. The rear cover is very solidly bound, actually doesn't have any give. Most importantly, the binding of the pages is, believe it or not, extremely solid from beginning to end . All of pages are nicely tight. There are no cracks or spaces (not even close) between any of them. These pages are lightly and uniformly toned, but are exceptionally clean. I'm not finding any soiling. I found one page that had a tiny bottom corner loss, far from the print, and a tiny bottom edge tear, far from the print. In scrolling through, I didn't find any other tears or losses. And the pages appear to be free of any creasing. So, overall, I would describe them as being in very good condition. I didn't see any markings anywhere in the book. The author's signature is the only writing to be found anywhere in the book. On the rear side of the rear end paper there are two square shadows, probably formed by newspaper clippings being left inside the book there. On the rear inside cover two small newspaper clippings are affixed. They both are notices of the death of a Dr. Jacob Bell Cornell. Curiously, in one of the clippings it is reported that Dr. Cornell 'was instrumental in bringing about the arrest of Arthur Warren Waitle, now in Sing Sing prison under sentence of death for killing his father-in-law.' That dates the newspaper clippings to be from around 1916 when the murder occurred. There is a Wikipedia entry titled Murder of Hannah and John E. Peck which informs that Arthur Warren Waite was a dentist and that he was born in the year that this book was published (AHA!). 'Arthur poisoned him (his father-in-law) during a dental exam, and gave him additional arsenic in his food, when the death was too slow he gave him ether and smothered him with a pillow. He was found guilty and electrocuted at Sing Sing on May 24, 1917.' I'm sure you can see how this relates to renal disease. The two small newspaper clippings are the only attachments to be found anywhere in the book. And that covers condition. Seller Inventory # 002956
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Bibliographic Details
Title: A Practical Treatise on Renal Diseases and ...
Publisher: William Wood & Company, New York
Publication Date: 1887
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good Minus
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition
