By England's Aid; Or the Freeing of the Netherlands
New York: Scribner and Welford, [Undated but 1890]. First American Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. A Very Good to Very Good + copy of the first American Edition, first printing, being one of the last four G. A. Henty titles to be published with the Scribner and Welford imprint. The first American edition of this novel and the other three in the last four printed by Blackie for release in America by Scribner and Welford ["By Right of Conquest", "Maori and Settler", and "A Chapter of Adventures"] were all issued with undated title pages -- thus being an exception to Harland Eastman's rule that true first American Scribner and Welford Editions require a dated title page). This copy meets all of the requirements of the first American Edition. (Notably, the Scribner and Welford First Editions of Henty's novels are much scarcer than are Blackie First Editons, and only 1,000 copies of this edition were printed, a paltry number compared to the number of Blackie editions published -- see information below.) [PLEASE NOTE: Harland Eastman states in his work on the Scribner and Welford editions, that the Blackie half-title was retained, but it is not present in this copy and there is no sign of its having been removed.] Eastman also states that the Scribner and Welford first American Edition has a "Note" on the title page's verso that does not appear in the Blackie first edition, and Eastman provides the text of that Note. In this copy, the text of said Note appears on the verso of the page where the Preface begins. Henty Editions issued in America after the final four Scribner and Welford editons described above were published under the Charles Scribner's Sons imprint. [The later copies of this title issued in America have the same cover designed, so collectors seeking the true first American Edition should use due care to avoid confusing later editons with this true First American Editon.] [PLEASE NOTE: In his excellent Bibliography of Henty's works, the Second Edition, Peter Newbolt notes that the Blackie first edition was published on June 14, 1890 and that by the end of February, 1891, Blackie had sold 4,270 copies, that over the next ten years they sold 5,370 more copies (with the average sale over an eleven-year period of 876 copies per year), leaving only 117 copies -- which were sold over the next six years. Thus, we have here an EXTRAORDINARILY SCARCE, LIKELY RARE, TRUE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION of this G. A. Henty work. Very good +. Item #3520
Price: $750.00