first edition
1887
by Haggard, H. Rider
1887. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1887. 2 pp undated ads. Original blue-black cloth decorated in gilt, beveled.
First English Edition of Haggard's fifth book and, except for his fourth one (KING SOLOMON'S MINES), his best-known one. It is a strange tale, filled with sexual suggestion, about a white African tribal queen who lives in a cave, approachable only through deep underground tunnels. [SHE] is a work of both originality and brilliance in which Haggard, revealing his inner feelings, charts not as in KING SOLOMON'S MINES the adventures of men searching for treasure, but the sufferings and setbacks experienced in the elemental search for love and the achievement of ambition... To discover why SHE was so immediately successful it is necessary to consider the nature and mores of the contemporary society... It was during this heyday of Victorian repression and moral censure that SHE was published and the vision of the most beautiful woman in the world standing naked, arms outÂstretched in the flames' embrace, was found acceptable... The underlying, though on Haggard's part unconscious, sexuality is not the sole reason for the success of the book, which has remained immensely popular throughout far more liberated and permissive eras. In SHE Haggard proves himself to be a master story-teller and the creator of a mystical character who ranks amongst the most powerful and original in English literature [Higgins]. SHE was the first of many Haggard titles to be published by Longmans Green (it is dedicated to their employee Andrew Lang), and was the first of several to be bound in this heavy blue-black beveled binding. Harper's wrappered "Franklin Square Library" edition is believed to have preceded this English edition by a few days. This is a bright, near-fine copy (volume slightly aslant, a couple of small bubbles in the rear cover cloth, minor cracking of the front endpaper ) -- of a volume that is increasingly difficult to find in collectible condition. Scott 5; McKay 5a; Whatmore F4; Allen 55. (Inventory #: 15672)
First English Edition of Haggard's fifth book and, except for his fourth one (KING SOLOMON'S MINES), his best-known one. It is a strange tale, filled with sexual suggestion, about a white African tribal queen who lives in a cave, approachable only through deep underground tunnels. [SHE] is a work of both originality and brilliance in which Haggard, revealing his inner feelings, charts not as in KING SOLOMON'S MINES the adventures of men searching for treasure, but the sufferings and setbacks experienced in the elemental search for love and the achievement of ambition... To discover why SHE was so immediately successful it is necessary to consider the nature and mores of the contemporary society... It was during this heyday of Victorian repression and moral censure that SHE was published and the vision of the most beautiful woman in the world standing naked, arms outÂstretched in the flames' embrace, was found acceptable... The underlying, though on Haggard's part unconscious, sexuality is not the sole reason for the success of the book, which has remained immensely popular throughout far more liberated and permissive eras. In SHE Haggard proves himself to be a master story-teller and the creator of a mystical character who ranks amongst the most powerful and original in English literature [Higgins]. SHE was the first of many Haggard titles to be published by Longmans Green (it is dedicated to their employee Andrew Lang), and was the first of several to be bound in this heavy blue-black beveled binding. Harper's wrappered "Franklin Square Library" edition is believed to have preceded this English edition by a few days. This is a bright, near-fine copy (volume slightly aslant, a couple of small bubbles in the rear cover cloth, minor cracking of the front endpaper ) -- of a volume that is increasingly difficult to find in collectible condition. Scott 5; McKay 5a; Whatmore F4; Allen 55. (Inventory #: 15672)
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