first edition
1865
by Thoreau, Henry D[avid]
1865. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865. 24 pp ads dated Dec 1864. Original blind-stamped dark green cloth.
First Edition, first printing, which consisted of only 2,000 or 2,040 copies (of which some were sent to England to be issued with a cancel title page) -- printed in December 1864, but not actually published until late March 1865. Edited by the younger William Ellery Channing and by Sophia Thoreau, this was the fifth Thoreau book, preceded by A WEEK ON THE CONCORD AND MERRIMACK RIVERS, WALDEN, and the posthumous EXCURSIONS and THE MAINE WOODS. Describing the natural environment and people of 'the bare and bended arm of Massachusetts,' the account is based on the author's experiences during three short visits to Cape Cod (Oct. 1849; June 1850; July 1855), and includes ten essays on the history and character of the inhabitants, 'The Highland Light,' Nantucket, the sea, the beach, and other aspects of the Cape. [OCAL] There were four different bindings used (differing in blind-stamping and in "author of" spine verbiage), and in seven different colors and grains of cloth -- without known priority; this copy is in Blanck's "binding A," and is in blue-green "BD" (pebble-grain) cloth. This is a near-fine copy (light wear at the top of the spine, a few very faint cover marks); the original brown-coated endpapers are intact, and there is no foxing on the leaves within. Borst A5.1.a, binding 1; Blanck 20115, binding A. Provenance: the front free endpaper bears a penciled inscription "Heigh ho for Sciasconsett! | Heigh Ho! | Sept 22, 1865". Siasconset [sic] is at the far eastern end of Nantucket island, just south of Cape Cod. (Inventory #: 15540)
First Edition, first printing, which consisted of only 2,000 or 2,040 copies (of which some were sent to England to be issued with a cancel title page) -- printed in December 1864, but not actually published until late March 1865. Edited by the younger William Ellery Channing and by Sophia Thoreau, this was the fifth Thoreau book, preceded by A WEEK ON THE CONCORD AND MERRIMACK RIVERS, WALDEN, and the posthumous EXCURSIONS and THE MAINE WOODS. Describing the natural environment and people of 'the bare and bended arm of Massachusetts,' the account is based on the author's experiences during three short visits to Cape Cod (Oct. 1849; June 1850; July 1855), and includes ten essays on the history and character of the inhabitants, 'The Highland Light,' Nantucket, the sea, the beach, and other aspects of the Cape. [OCAL] There were four different bindings used (differing in blind-stamping and in "author of" spine verbiage), and in seven different colors and grains of cloth -- without known priority; this copy is in Blanck's "binding A," and is in blue-green "BD" (pebble-grain) cloth. This is a near-fine copy (light wear at the top of the spine, a few very faint cover marks); the original brown-coated endpapers are intact, and there is no foxing on the leaves within. Borst A5.1.a, binding 1; Blanck 20115, binding A. Provenance: the front free endpaper bears a penciled inscription "Heigh ho for Sciasconsett! | Heigh Ho! | Sept 22, 1865". Siasconset [sic] is at the far eastern end of Nantucket island, just south of Cape Cod. (Inventory #: 15540)
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