Washington Square.: The Pension Beaurepas. A Bundle of Letters.

London: Macmillan And Co.,, 1881. A remarkably fine copy First UK edition in book form, first impression with the three misnumbered pages in volume II, in the first state of the binding. Only 500 sets were printed, and this copy is in truly exceptional condition. The UK edition was preceded by the American edition by a month. The UK edition also included The Pension Beaurepas, not previously published in book form, and A Bundle of Letters, which had previously been published in book form in America. The first impression was issued with either brown or white endpapers, without priority. The first impression was followed by a second in March 1881, distinguished by the correction of the misnumbered pages; the second impression binding was altered to red-brown cloth, though some second impression copies are known in the first impression cloth and with later advertisements dated January 1881. Sadleir identifies two further variants for this first impression, one slightly shorter and one slightly larger, hypothesizing the shorter (as this copy) represents a subsequent binding up, but Edel and Laurence did not give an opinion on this and only state that the variants are noted. Provenance: Sotheby's, Library of an English Bibliophile part I, 18 October 2010, lot 84, £16,875 with premium. Two volumes, octavo. Original blue cloth, spines lettered in gilt, covers ruled in blind, brown endpapers. Housed in a green cloth folding box by B. W. Gabriel. With 40 pp. of advertisements at end of volume 2 dated December 1879. Some minor spotting to edges and sporadically to contents, one gathering in vol. II ever so slightly sprung, in all other respects a fine copy. BAL 10552; Edel and Laurence A15b; Sadleir 1295a; Supino 15.3.0.