Etna Vandemir: A Romance of Kentucky and "The Great Uprising"
New York: Cutter, Tower & Co., 1863.
First edition, first printing of the author's first novel. Presentation copy signed by Hancock on the fly-leaf to the recipient, "with compliments of the author, May 6th 1863." As was typical in the mid 19th century, it was inscribed by the author without her name written. 366 pp. Bound in publisher's green-black bead-grain cloth stamped in blind and in gilt, yellow coated endpapers. Very Good+ with lean and sunning to spine, moderate rubbing to covers and dulling to gilt, and several small stains to textblock edges.
A flowery Civil War-themed romance by Sally J. Hancock Battey. Born on an old homestead outside Louisville, Hancock married young and turned to writing after her early widowhood. The Louisville Courier-Journal had high praise for the author of Etna Vandemir and noted that "her limning of the personal traits of the actors in her drama of life exhibits a knowledge of the human heart, its impulses and workings, which is very unusual in one of her sex."
Price: $750