Books

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1853. First American edition. Very Good. With original front wrapper lacking rear wrapper. Front wrapper with a few short tears. Spine worn, with most of backstrip perished. Plain rear wrapper added later. Octavo (226 x 142 mm.). A textually complete copy, including 4 leaves of advertisements at the rear. Text in double columns, collating: 184, [4 leaves ads]. A bit of foxing, otherwise a Very Good copy. Smith claims no priority between this edition and the one in cloth, but the differing page-counts suggest priority exists (the type was completely reset and the clothbound copy has over 500 pages); either way the wrapper edition is much scarcer. Housed in a custom paper-covered slipcase. "Charlotte Bronte's final masterpiece powerfully portrays a woman struggling to reconcile love, jealousy, and a fierce desire for independence. Having fled a harrowing past in England, Lucy Snowe begins a new life teaching at a boarding school in the great capital of a…

Villette is a novel by Charlotte Brontë, published in 1853. Drawing from Brontë's own experiences, the novel follows Lucy Snowe as she leaves England to teach at a girl's school in the fictional town of Villette, Belgium.