WALLECE, LEW.

Ben-Hur. A Tale of the Christ.

N.Y., Harpers & Brothers, (1880) (on verso of t-p. , but recte 1881? or 1887?). Orig. full brown cloth (as binding state 2 of the first edition) w. traces of use. Capitals and corners a bit worn. Inner front hinge a bit weak, otherwise internally fine. 552, 12 (adds) pp.

First edition, later issue or second edition? With the be-became misprint on p. 11 and the four-line printed dedication "To/ the Wife of my Youth/ who/ still abides with me". Wallece wished to dedicate this his second printed work to his wife, and asked her to compose the dedication, which first became "To/ the Wife of my Youth" as it reads in the scarce first edition, first - third state. Due to this dedication Wallace's wife was thought to be dead, and as a result he received numerous marriage-proposals and letters of sympathy, thus in the second edition they added the two other lines "who/ still abides with me". No first edition is known to have this four-line dedication. The second edition, which is usually mistaken for the first (due to the only year of printing being the copyright-year (1880) on the verso of the title-page) is supposed to have 560 pp + 16 pp adds, whereas this copy has 552 pp + 12 pp adds like the first edition. No other edition than the first is known to have appeared with this same number of pp. This copy seems to contain the fourth state of adds, beginning with "The Octavo Paper Novels...". Thus this is a rare or unknown variant of the first or second edition?

Order-nr.: 29904