THE TRIAL OF GIDEON, AND COUNTESS ALMARA'S MURDER. New York, London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1886. Octavo, pp. [1-3] 4-96, flyleaves at front and rear, original three-quarter blue cloth and marbled boards front and rear panels ruled in brown, spine panel stamped in gold, pale yellow endpapers. First edition. Published simultaneously in paper wrappers as Funk & Wagnalls' "Standard Library" number 140 at 15¢ or in cloth and boards (as here) at 75¢. Two short stories, the first a fantasy set in the Middle East, the second a sensational detective story. The first story concerns the discovery of a manuscript that tells, "in a style that Hawthorne makes drearily sententious, a story of the ancient city of Nebo and the cause of its destruction by flood waters." - Bassan, Hawthorne's Son, p. 158. The second combines Gothic, mystery, supernatural (a prophetic dream) and society novel elements, and features "a scene of genuine horror, one of the best Hawthorne ever contrived and comparable to the discovery scene in ARCHIBALD MALMAISON ..." - ibid., p. 157. Reginald 06948. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978). Hubin (1994), p. 385. Wright (III) 2605. Bassan, Hawthorne's Son, p. p. 263. Cloth lightly worn at spine ends and corner tips, damp stain to lower edge of front cover, a good copy. (#167328).
Price: $100.00
No statement of printing.