THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS. In Three Volumes

1873. [a "Palliser" novel] London: Chapman and Hall, 1873. Original terra-cotta cloth stamped in black and gilt.

First English Edition (Harper's one-volume edition was published in October 1872; this three-decker came out two months later, in December). This is Trollope's tale about the adventuress Lizzie Greystock -- "the very beautiful, superficially clever and completely selfish daughter of an admiral who was no credit whatever to the British Navy" [Gerould]. She trapped wealthy Sir Florian Eustace into marrying her just before he died, and so came into possession of a diamond necklace -- which she claimed he had given her but his relatives (truncated) claimed as an heirloom. But then the necklace was stolen not once but twice, or was it actually?... As a "Palliser" novel, it includes many of the same characters who had been in CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? and in PHINEAS FINN. Sadleir describes the primary binding as "salmon-brown sand-grained cloth," with the spine lettering in gilt and black, and with a black front cover border and a blind-stamped rear cover border; this cloth is terra-cotta rather than salmon, and has the single-line border in black on both the front and rear covers. The second and third volumes are just about FINE; the first is very good-plus (slight wear at the spine ends, minor bubbling of the front cover cloth, faint rear cover crease, publisher's spine imprint rubbed). For some reason we seldom see this title in original cloth: over our 45 years in business we been able to offer only four (one in the primary salmon cloth, two in this terra-cotta cloth with the same spine and front cover lettering, and one in the later green cloth with different lettering -- none on the front cover). Sadleir (TROLLOPE) 39. Provenance: small bookplates of "Henry G. Burke | Baltimore" (1902-1989), a founding member of the Jane Austen Society of North America; the Austen collection he and his wife Alberta formed is at her alma mater Goucher College. ("Mrs. Burke once caused a furor at a meeting of The Jane Austen Society in Chawton [UK]: complaints were being made that “some American” had bought at auction a lock of J.A.’s hair. Mrs. Burke promptly stood up, declared herself the American, and presented the Society with her purchase" [JASNA].). (Inventory #: 15614)