Dracula (with a signed letter)

by Stoker, Bram

$45,000 · Offered by Biblio

First edition

London: Archibald Constable and Company, 1897. First edition. Very Good +. First printing, without the Shoulder of Shasta advertisement, second state with 8 pages of publisher's advertisements in the rear (starting with George Meredith's The Amazing Marriage). Octavo: x, 390, [2, blank], plus 8 pg. publisher's catalog. Printed on thicker paper and retaining the final blank leaf, before the rear endpaper. A Very Good+ copy overall. Front inner hinge is just starting, but still holding well (and unrepaired). Cloth generally clean, red titling a bit faded, particularly at the spine, which is also toned. Small marginal dampstain (about the size of a thumbnail) affects the first 30 pages. Offsetting from laid-in paper affects pgs 46-47 and the endpapers, front and rear. Housed in a custom quarter black leather clamshell case. Laid in is a letter on Lyceum Theater stationary from the author, Bram Stoker, to a Mr. Knowles: "5 Nov 1892 | Dear Mr. Knowles, | Mr. Irving asks me to send you seats for 1st night of King Lear. They are close to end of row near the exit. He hopes to see you both on the stage after the play. yours sincerely, Bram Stoker." Prior to publishing Dracula, Stoker worked as the secretary for Sir Henry Irving, a well-known Shakespearian stage actor. Irving served as the primary inspiration for the appearance and personality of Count Dracula. In the century and a quarter since its publication, Bram Stoker's Dracula has, of course, been recognized as a landmark work o

• Publisher: Archibald Constable and Company
• Year: 1897
• Edition: First Edition
• Binding: unknown

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