60 Great Books Bauman Rare Books - 48 - “The Dearest And Most Lovable Child In Fiction Since The Immortal Alice” (Mark Twain): First Edition Of Anne Of Green Gables 46. MONTGOMERY, Lucy Maud. Anne of Green Gables. Boston, 1908. Octavo, original gilt-stamped brown cloth, mounted cover illustration, custom half morocco clamshell box. $27,000. First edition, first issue, of Montgomery’s first novel, illustrated with eight plates by M.A. and W.A.J. Claus. The story of the red-haired orphan Anne Shirley and the elderly brother and sister who adopt her “is the most popular and enduring of a host of girls’ stories published in the United States and Canada in the first years of the 20th century” (Carpenter & Pritchard, 2526). “Montgomery began writing about Anne as a serial for a Sunday school periodical in the spring of 1904. The character became so real that she eventually decided to develop the idea into a full novel” (Keeline, 41). The novel was completed in 1905, but was rejected by four major American publishing houses, and it was not until 1907 that Montgomery found a publisher. The bestseller was not to be published in Montgomery’s native Canada until 1942, the year Montgomery died. First issue, dated “April, 1908” on the copyright page, in a variant chocolate brown cloth binding; most copies are found in pale green or buff cloth (L.M. Montgomery Institute). We have been able to locate only a handful of firstissue copies that have appeared at auction in the past 30 years. With eight-page publisher’s catalogue. Interior fine, lightest rubbing to spine ends of original cloth binding, spine leaning very slightly. An about-fine copy, exceedingly rare in such excellent condition. “A sentimental but charming comingof-age story about a spirited and unconventional orphan girl who finds a home with elderly siblings... a classic of children’s literature.”–Britannica
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