Wuthering Heights
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1848.
First American edition, with publisher's misattribution on the title page "by the Author of Jane Eyre." 288 p. Bound in publisher's purple cloth with decorative stamping in blind on boards and in gilt on spine. Near Fine with lean and sunning to spine, fading to gilt, moderate rubbing and several tiny ink stains to cloth, and slight bumping to corners. Contemporary ownership signature to title page and related ink stain to first 3 leaves. Pencil inscription to front pastedown, green scuff marks to back pastedown, light foxing and toning to contents. Stitches showing at multiple places; binding unrestored and strong.
Emily Bronte wrote her famous novel at her sister Charlotte’s behest, drawing on stories of the magical kingdom of Gondal that she and her siblings had developed as children. Their father’s finances had been drained by the reckless abandon of their brother Branwell, and the women needed to raise money after the failure of their school and their book of poetry. Charlotte’s Jane Eyre was an instant bestseller, but Wuthering Heights met an unreceptive audience on both sides of the Atlantic. Reviewers were shocked by the brutality and wildness of the novel, dismissing it as a disturbing novel by a disturbed person – or as The Economist put it, “a most strange and mysterious story, calculated to excite any other feelings than those of pleasure.” Emily died just a few months after her novel was published anonymously in the United States, falsely credited by Harper and Brothers to “the author of Jane Eyre,” and her star did not rise for decades. First editions are consequently very rare, especially in the original cloth.
Price: $26,000