Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion. By the Author of “Pride and Prejudice,” “Mansfield-Park,” &c. With a Biographical Notice of the Author.
London: John Murray, 1818.
Price: $25,000.00
About the item
First edition. xxiv, [1]-300; [2], 331, [1]; [2], 280; [2], 308 pp. Half titles present. Vols. I & II printed by C. Roworth Bull-yard. Vols. III & IV by T. Davison, Lombard Street, Whitefriars, Printers. 4 vols. 12mo. Later polished chestnut morocco, contrasting spine labels. Infrequent minor spotting to text. Ownership signature of Harriet Gordon, Esslemont, in esch volume. Fine set. Cloth slipcase. Gilson A9; Keynes, Austen 9; Sadleir 62e.
Item #352489
A nice copy of Jane Austen’s last works, with interesting provenance: the ownership signatures of Harriet Gordon, Esslemont. A grand daughter of the second Earl of Aberdeen, Harriet Elizabeth Gordon (1806-1859) was born in Demerara (British Guiana) and was orphaned by the death of her father in 1814. She was raised by cousins in affluent circumstanes. Her father's cousin, Frances Gordon, remembered her as “having been brought up with every kind of extravagance, two governesses to herself, and everything she fancied got for her.” And “although her money (which was mosty West Indian) decreased very much in value . . . she continued recklessly extravagant”. She married her cousin Adam Gordon and they burned through much of her fortune. Her son, Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833-1870), inherited nearly £7000 from her in 1861; he was an Australian poet.
