Description
The first American edition of Confidence by Henry James, in the first state binding.
Octavo, [2], 347pp, [3]. Publisher’s red-orange cloth, over beveled boards. Title in gilt on spine. Bookplate on the front pastedown, from the “Paul Lemperly / Henry James Collection.” Bookseller’s description also affixed to the front pastedown, and a small label on the rear pastedown. Light wear from handling along crown of the spine. Text block with slight lean, faint dust remnant along top, internally fine.
First published in London by Chatto & Windus in December 1879. One of 1,500 copies issued in three binding variants. The first-state binding carries the Houghton, Osgood & Co. imprint at the foot of the spine.
(BAL 10549) (Edel, A11b)
From the library of Paul Lemperly (1858-1939), a prominent Cleveland bibliophile. His library was dispersed by Parke-Bernet Galleries in 1940.
