I'm a Books About Books Collector from Florida who has an incomplete
copy of an early edition of "The Coquette." Although I can't help you
in the matter of provenance, I'm hoping that the bibliographical
information of my copy might be helpful to you.
Any evidence of prior ownership disappeared when the front free
endpaper, preliminary pages, and the title page were removed. My copy
begins on page 3 and ends on page 254. Pages 17 to 20 are missing as
well. Half of page 21 would have been missing too; but someone repaired
it with some neat diagonal and vertical stitching with thread across the
page.
Now for the bibliographical information:
Pasted on the front pastedown of this book is the bookseller's ticket
of Thomas & Whipple, Market Square, Newburyport. Thomas & Whipple was
one of Isaiah Thomas' bookselling partnerships. I wanted one of Isaiah
Thomas' bookseller's tickets for my library.
In 1811, Thomas & Whipple became the publisher of the third edition of
"The Coquette;" however, my copy is not the third edition: The third
edition only contained 242 pages. My copy contained at least 254 pages.
While the fourth edition of 1824 contained enough pages (303), I don't
believe the long or medial "s" letterform was used in that edition. The
long "s" letterform was used in my copy. Doris O'Keefe of the American
Antiquarian Society can correct me on this point if I'm wrong.
I believe my incomplete copy is either the first (1797) or the second
(1802) edition of "The Coquette." Both editions contained 261 pages.
Both editions were published by S. Etheridge for E. Larkin.
Thomas & Whipple sold my copy sometime prior to 1811, and probably sold
many other copies as well. In fact, the sale of the first two editions
of the book in their bookstore may have been the deciding factor in
Thomas & Whipple becoming the publisher of the third edition of "The
Coquette" in 1811.
Hope this helps,
Jerry Morris,
Book Collector
Dear all,
Everett assures me this is a legitimate use of Exlibris, and so I'm
hoping to prevail upon your generosity.
As part of a much larger project I'm looking at editions of Hannah
Webster Foster's _The Coquette_, from its initial publication through to
1939. What I am considering are patterns of reader modification: signing
the book, inscribing it, adding notes, pasting in materials, etc.
Likewise, I'm interested in the same patterns in Caroline Healy Dall's
_The Romance of the Association, or One Last Glimpse of Charlotte Temple
and Eliza Wharton_ (1875).
It's a small part of the project, but absolutely crucial--and
fascinating. Sadly, as much as I would like to embark on a cross-country
road-trip to visit the extant copies, it's not feasible.
And so I'm hoping to draw on your resources. Are there individuals out
there who have access to such copies in their own libraries or
specialized book stores-or even on their own bookshelves-who wouldn't be
adverse to looking at them and transcribing any such marks along with
the information on the edition? I'd be very grateful.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Harris
Mount Allison University
Sackville, New Brunswick
Canada
Moi's Books About Books http://www.tinyurl.com/hib7
Moi's Library http://www.moislibrary.com My Sentimental Library:
http://www.picturetrail.com/mylibrary
Florida Bibliophile Society
http://www.floridabibliophilesociety.org