Books

[390pp deckled mould-made paper, guarded frontis]: vi, 384 (last leaf blank); decorated tan linen, lacking jacket; 217 x 146 x 34 mm. Canadian issue of the American Dodd Mead sheets (inserted tp), in a Morang binding. Third Canadian edition of the author's highspot, originally issued 1850: Boston (preceded by 1879: Belfords, Clarke; & 1892: Hart & Riddell). First illustrated Canadian edition; printed two-colours throughout on fine laid paper watermarked "A.I" for the designer. Opening page of the Introductory, ornately bordered (after Morris). A superlative copy of this elusive issue, with both the polychrome Iorio frontis & Iorio binding design fresh & bright. Very scarce.

The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, is considered one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous works. It is a historical romance set in the puritanical Massachusetts Bay Colony during the mid-17th century.