NEW YORK ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR 2026
5. [BRONTE, Charlotte] BELL, Currer SHIRLEY A Tale. Smith, Elder, 1849 [46412] First edition. Three volumes. Original publisher’s plum-brown, horizontally ribbed cloth with gilt titles to spine and decora- tive border stamped in blind to the covers. Page 304 in vol II is missnumbered 403, though to be an early state of the text. Three pages of adverts to the rear of vol III, sixteen page catalogue of adverts dated October 1849 at the end of vol I. A fine set, excep - tionally bright and crisp, with a touch of fading to the spine but much less so than usual and the covers still retaining much of the original puce hue. Internally very fresh, superficial splitting to the rear hinges of vol I and III and early ownership name to title pages. An exceptional set of a book seldom seen in unrepaired cloth. $35,000 Charlotte Bronte’s second novel. It is one of the foremost examples of the Victorian Social Novel, which uses fiction to highlight the impact of social issues, in this case industrialisation and the state of the country’s working class rural and urban poor. The novel is set in Yorkshire against the historical backdrop of the economic depression of the Napoleonic Wars and the Luddite Riots. The period in which Bronte wrote Shirley was a tragic one for her family, as it saw the deaths of her two literary sisters, Emily and Anne and her
brother Bramwell. She wrote to her publisher in August, “Whatever now becomes of the work, the occupation of writing it has been a boon to me. It took me out of a dark and desolate reality into an unreal but happier re- gion”. The two principal characters, Shirley Keeldar and Caroline Helstone are loosely based on a homage to Emily and Anne. Smith 5
4. BECKETT, Samuel EN ATTENDANT GODOT piece en deux actes Paris, Editions de Minuit, 1952 [46721] First edition. Original cream wrappers with blue and black titles to upper cover, spine and advertisement on back cover. Edges uncut. A fine copy, with just a couple of very faint marks around the head of the spine and a neat owner’s name and address stamp to front free end paper. An exceptionally clean crisp copy. $4,250 Beckett’s first published play that captured post-war ex - istential uncertainty, expressing a world where meaning and progress were no longer guaranteed. It revolutionised theatre by rejecting traditional plot and influenced modern drama and culture.
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