(#110259) ELSIE VENNER: A ROMANCE OF DESTINY. Oliver Wendell Holmes.

ELSIE VENNER: A ROMANCE OF DESTINY. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1861. 12mo, two volumes: pp. [i-ix] x [xi] xii [13] 14-288; [i-iii] iv [5] 6-312 + 16-page publisher's catalogue dated "August, 1861" inserted at rear of volume two, flyleaves at front and rear of both volumes, original decorated brown cloth, front and rear panels stamped in blind, spine panels stamped in gold and blind, brown coated endpapers. First edition. According to the publisher's records, there were four printings during the period January-April, 1861. Volume one conforms to BAL's probable third printing, with "Currents" described as "Just Published" on page [ii] and battered type on pages [ix], [13] and 23. A later form of publisher's catalogue, dated "August, 1861," is inserted at rear of volume two. "The tragic story of a young girl who inherits certain ophidian characteristics because her mother was bitten by a rattlesnake while pregnant; this becomes a parable relating to the question of how much moral responsibility people must bear for their actions. By far the most interesting of Holmes's 'medicated novels;' the other two [THE GUARDIAN ANGEL (1867) and A MORTAL ANTIPATHY (1885)] are more straightforward psychological case studies." - Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 2-83. "Sometimes a little primitive and clumsy in narration, but with many good touches and a pathetic central situation. Certainly worth reading." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1118. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-538. Clareson, The Emergence of American Science Fiction: 1880-1915, pp. 42-3. Bleiler (1978), p. 102. Reginald 07363. BAL 8801. Wright (II) 1249. Small early private owner's bookplates affixed to front paste-downs. A remarkably clean, attractive copy, basically fine, or nearly so. (#110259).

Price: $350.00

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