Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero (First American edition in original binding)
New York: Harper & Bros, 1848. First American edition. Hardcover. First Americn edition. Royal 8vo. hardcover in original publisher's ribbed and blindstamped dark brown cloth decorated in gilt. Engraved half-title. viii+ 332 pp plus final illustrated plate following final page of text+ 4 pp. publisher's ads at rear. 32 inserted plates on heavier stock with drawings by the author. Generally about good, some wear and rounding at the tips and edge loss at the head and foot of the spine, short split top front gutter. Offsetting to the bright yellow endpapers and an 1873 ownership notation front free endpaper. Thackeray's most famous and popular work, a novel that follows the lives of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley during and after the Napoleonic wars. It was first published serially in 19 parts beginning in 1847 with the subtitle "Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society" and in book form with the subtitle changed to "A Novel Without A Hero". The work was immediately hailed by critics and the public (including Charlotte Bronte). It was adapted for the stage the times, the first being in 1899; for four silent films; and three sound films the most recent being in 2004. Very Good. Item #E26057
Price: $250.00