FINELY PRINTED MOSHER EDITION OF AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE

LANG, Andrew. Aucassin and Nicolette. Portland, Maine: Thomas B. Mosher, 1896. Slim octavo, original white parchment wrappers, uncut and mostly unopened. $200.

Second Mosher edition of the anonymous 13th-century chante-fable, Andrew Lang’s 1887 translation.

The first printing of “this pirated edition . . . caused a long and heated exchange between Mosher and the author/translator through The Critic and other literary periodicals of the day. Mosher delighted in the controversy and the attention it attracted for it only increased demand for the Mosher books” (Bishop, 88). “Mosher argued with reason that what he printed was unknown in America since others were unaware of it or considered it unprofitable to publish, and he certainly extended the reputation there of the writers he chose” (Glaister, 333). Mosher’s autumn 1896 list of books laid in.

Pages quite clean and bright. A near-fine copy.