Original Wrappers
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Gentle Boy: A Thrice Told Tale
Boston: Weeks, Jordan & Co., 1839
Frontispiece illustration by Sophia Amelia Peabody (lower corner of final leaf restored, a few small repairs at margins elsewhere). Original printed wrappers. Spine restored, a few repaired tears to rear cover, light soiling and wear at extremities. Morocco case.
First separate edition. This is the Chrysler copy in original wrappers. “The Gentle Boy” is a moving tale of the Puritan persecution of the Quakers. The work was inspired by William Sewel’s History of the Quakers and informed by the experience of Hawthorne’s own ancestor William Hathorne. This first separate edition includes the engraving of Sophia’s of the Gentle Boy with the Puritan.
The present copy has Clark’s second state of the text with “faces” at 18-1.9, and the third state of frontispiece with artist’s initials and date 1/16” high.
BAL 7587. Clark A2.2a2.
$2,400