Trilby

New York: Harpers, 1894 Book. Illus. by DU Maurier. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition- the true and scarce first, first serialized in Harper's. Beautiful cover depicting wings and a heart in gilt in the middle of a spider web, with flowers and other various symbols as a border in green. Scarce, collectible. Same date, 1894, to copyright and title page. Hard boards in very good condition, with the usual bumping to spine edges and corners. Cover lightly stained with a few light speckles. All pages are intact. Numerous beautiful wood cut prints throughout book, illustrated by DU Maurier. The English triple decker (1894) did not retain these illustrations. One of the most popular novels of it's time, perhaps the second best selling novel of the Fin de siecle after Bram Stoker's Dracula. Published serially in Harper's Monthly in 1894. Adapted to the stage several times, made into a movie in 1931.Trilby inspired Gaston Leroux's novel Phantom of the Opera. Trilby introduce the trilby hat to the UK in the early 1900's, which made a comeback in the U.S. one hundred years later. Trilby also introduced the phrase, "in the altogether" meaning "completely unclothed", and the term "Svengali" for a man with dominating powers over a female protegee. Set in the 1850's in an idyllic Bohemian Paris, features the stories of 2 English artists, a Scottish artist as well as a Svengolian Jewish rogue, masterful musician and hypnotist. .
Gullans & Epsey #79