Life of Gen. Ben Harrison... Also, Life of Hon. Levi P. Morton....
Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, [1888]. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Grey cloth with gilt lettering and elaborate black decorative stamping. (Ca. 200pp). Frontispiece, illustrations, decorative endpapers. Good plus. Rather edgeworn, corner bumped and lightly soiled, with bit of fraying at head and tail of spine -- but tight nonetheless. Item #39588
Salesman's subscription copy of this campaign biography, with brief samples from quite a few chapters included. Front pastedown bears sample book spines showing the full calf and the moroccan bindings, each pristine and well giltstamped. At the close are 16 pages vertically lined blank pages for purchasers to leave "Name," "Residence" and "Binding" -- one page is full with nine purchasers, another shows four and a third shows three. Interestingly, the frontispiece steel-engraved portrait depicts, not Harrison or Morton, but preacher Henry Ward Beecher, with a statemment printed in red at top acknowledging this and noting that this is "being used simply as SAMPLE." A printed slip tipped in among the front flyleaves notes that "The first eighteen pages only of the Life of General Harrison contained in this Prospectus are from the pen of the author of 'Ben Hur.' The remainder have been prepared merely for the use of Agents, in order to show the size of page, style of type, and general appearance of the forthcoming volume...." Despite worn binding, a tight and quite presentable copy of this scarce edition.
Price: $100.00