Wallace, Lewis

8vo (169 x 117mm.), first edition, first issue (with the first issue dedication "to the wife of my youth."), original decorated cloth, grey endpapers, PLAIN DUST-JACKET (title printed in black on spine), preserved in quarter grey morocco folding box, jacket slightly torn, chipped and repaired

George Barr McCutcheon, bookplate; Marjorie Wiggin Prescott, her sale, Christie's New York, 6 February 1981, lot 320 (part)

BAL 20798; Grolier American 82.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A VERY RARE COPY IN DUST-JACKET of the author's best-selling and highly influential Christian novel, the inspiration for countless subsequent biblical novels as well as the celebrated 1959 MGM film adaptation which won eleven Academy Awards. We can find no trace of a copy sold at auction for at least thirty years. "In America, 300,000 copies were sold in the first ten years after publication, making it one of the highest-ranking bestsellers of the nineteenth century" (Grolier). Loosely inserted is an autograph letter signed ("Lew. Wallace") to the editor of The Century Magazine in which the author encloses an instalment of "The Capture of Fort Donelson" and apologises for his delays (1 page, Crawfordsville, 8 October 1884, folds, minor repair to split at fold). The second issue of Ben-Hur corrected the dedication to a less ambiguous wording, given that the author's wife was still alive.