BAUMAN RARE BOOKS 8 “For What Do We Live, But To Make Sport For Our Neighbors, And Laugh At Them In Our Turn? 05(THOMSON, Hugh, illustrator) AUSTEN, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London, 1894. Octavo, publisher’s elaborately gilt-decorated dark green pictorial cloth. $9000 First “Peacock” edition of Jane Austen’s second and most popular novel, the first illustrated by Hugh Thomson, with 101 charming line drawings, in lovely publisher’s elaborately gilt-decorated cloth depicting a peacock spreading its feathers. The illustrator of this lovely edition, Hugh Thomson, “takes first place… among the genteel book illustrators” (Harthan, 238). “His style reflected the nostalgia of the time, his fine line drawings of rural characters and gentle countrified society appealed to the imagination of the public” (Olivia Fitzpatrick). He had a knack for “period costumes, coaches and horses, and elegant furniture; and his brisk style give his work irresistible charm” (Hodnett, 218). With Preface by George Saintsbury. First published in 1813. This trade edition preceded by a limited largepaper edition of 275 copies. A beautiful copy, with the cloth crisp and the gilt exceptionally bright. “The First, The Longest, And The Best Of Detective Novels” —T.S. Eliot 06COLLINS, Wilkie. The Moonstone. London, 1868. Three volumes. Octavo, late 19thcentury full blue calf. $15,000 First edition of this acclaimed detective novel, widely regarded as one of the best ever written, handsomely bound by Riviere and Son. “A good mystery with unforgettable characters and fine melodrama” (Barzun & Taylor 872). “The Moonstone has remained second only to The Woman in White in popularity among Collins’s novels. Although not the first detective story, it is a classic of the genre, with many features repeatedly borrowed by later writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers” (DNB). Collins had “one of the longest and most distinctive literary careers of the nineteenth century… In the course of nearly half a century’s writing [he] tried many new ways of reaching and expanding his audience. Dickensian Christmas books, short stories, three-decker novels, magazine and newspaper serializations flowed from his pen with a productivity unchecked” (Bowen 4-5). Small marginal closed tear to page 261 of Volume I, scattered foxing and soiling to interiors, light rubbing to spines. A near-fine copy.
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