Lot Details
Lot 163
COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE The Spy.
New York: Wiley & Halsted, 1821. First edition, second state of volume II with pp. 285 and 286 correctly positioned (as usual). Two volumes, early American full calf simply gilt, all edges sprinkled red, housed in later chemises and slipcase. 7 x 4 1/4 inches (17.75 x 10.75 cm); xii, 251 pp.; 286, [2] pp. (terminal blank). Joints worn, especially the front joint of the first volume, names excised at the head of the title pages with resulting small losses, portion of free endpaper torn away at head of volume II, scattered foxing.
Cooper's second novel, a substantial success that ran to three editions in the first two years after publication. Loosely based on events in the Revolutionary War, the book became the prototype for many similar romances, including Cooper's own. His first novel, Precaution, was a social novel in the manner of Jane Austen; this was a radical departure and an innovation in American letters. It was likely issued in wrappers, but no copy bound thus appears to have survived. The book is quite rare in commerce. BAL 3826; Spiller & Blackburn 2.
C The Library of Duncan Cranford
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