EBEN HOLDEN: A TALE OF THE NORTH COUNTRY. Boston: Lothrop Publishing Company, [1900]. Octavo, pp. [iii-iv] v-vii [viii-x] 1-432 [433-340: ads] [note: text complete despite gap in pagination], publisher's decorated red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, top edge gilt. First edition, first printing, first state text with "go to fur," page 400, line 13; first binding with pine cone on spine panel with rounded top. A copy signed and inscribed by Bacheller to Col. N. N. Wallack dated 6 August 1936 on the front free endpaper, along with a handwritten letter from Bacheller to Wallack in which he says he is returning the book and Wallack need not send him a bottle but he will instead "drink to your health this very evening." Willie Brower's parents die in a tragic accident, and their farm is to be sold. To save Willie from a corrupt uncle, Eben Holden, a beloved hired man and a father figure to the young Willie, takes the orphan into his care. They embark on a journey from Vermont across Lake Champlain into New York's Adirondack region. Eben becomes a father figure, imparting wisdom and values to young Willie. The story is told from Willie's perspective as he looks back on his childhood and his enduring bond with Eben. The story explores themes of friendship, love, perseverance, and the simplicity of rural life in the North Country. Wright (III) 196. Plum 7250. Small circular damp stain on the front cover, else a fine, bright copy. Accompanied by an additional, unrelated, handwritten letter from Bacheller to "Dear Mr. Van Noppen" (probably Leonard Charles Van Noppen, poet, literary expert, and translator, 1868-1935) dated 17 December 1909 about a projected reading of a play by Bacheller perhaps "some evening early in January -- almost any evening you could name." Enclosed in a worn custom quarter crushed burgundy morocco and red cloth slipcase. (#177627).
Price: $300.00
No statement of printing.