THE HISTORY of PENDENNIS, 1886, 2-Vol. Set, Smith, Elder & Co. Pocket Ed. RARE

Description: The History of Pendennis by William Makepeace Thackeray was originally published in 1849 by E.P. Dutton & Co. in London. The Pocket Edition was published in small print by Smith, Elder & Co. London in 1886. There are small bond paper inserts on the inside cover from Smith, Elder & Co. in each volume, Vol 1's insert announced Vol 2's publishing; "The History of Pendennis, Vol. II will be published on the 26th of July." in Vol 2 the insert is for "The Memoirs of Barry Lincoln to be published the 26th of August." The Inserts indicate that both volumes of "Pocket Editions" were advertising publications, which would have been very limited in number making these books extremely rare and collectible. They're in small print where as the 1849 1st editions where bound in leather and normal sized print. About Smith, Elder & Co. Smith, Elder and Co. was a British publishing company which was most noted for the works it published in the 19th century. It was purchased by John Murray in the early 1900s, its archive now kept as part of the John Murray Archive at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland. The firm was founded by George Smith (1789–1846) and Alexander Elder (1790–1876) and successfully continued by George Murray Smith (1824–1901). They are known to have published as early as 1826. They are notable for producing the first edition of the Dictionary of National Biography. The firm achieved its first major success with the publication of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in 1847, under the pseudonym of "Currer Bell". Other major authors published by the firm included Robert Browning, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, Richard Jefferies, George MacDonald, Charles Reade, John Ruskin, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Alfred Tennyson and George Gissing. In addition, beginning in 1841, they published The London and Edinburgh Magazine. Beginning in 1859, they published Cornhill Magazine. In 1909 the firm was being run by Reginald Smith. Its list of publications does not include Thackeray's "The History of Pendennis." But it does include one of Thackeray's books; "The History of Henry Esmond" in 1852. This indicates that these Pocket Editions were indeed advertising publications, which were always very limited in number, usually less than 100 were printed and sold to gentleman and ladies of means who could afford a 'pocket edition' book. Pocket Editions, though a form of advertising, were small enough that a gentleman or lady could conveniently carry a copy in their pocket while traveling by train or coach, hence there were only sold to people of means that could afford such luxury.

Price: 450 USD

Location: Carson City, Nevada

End Time: 2024-12-15T20:32:16.000Z

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