Barchester Towers (Maurice Sendak's copy) 2 vols

Leipzig: Tauchnitz, 1859. First European copyright edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. Barchester Towers is generally considered Anthony Trollope's most important novel, and the work that established him as one of Britain's most important authors of the Victorian era.  Trollope was a champion of copyright protection, which was just beginning to be legally implemented, country by country.  In order to establish copyright protection in Europe in Trollope's day, a foreign author was required to publish their works through a publisher on the continent.  Tauchnitz was just such a publisher, and published hundreds of British and American authors during the 19th and early 20th century. 
 
Enhancing the interest of this particular copy, however, is the fact that it was the personal copy of Maurice Sendak, the famous American children's author, who died in 2012.  Sendak, who did not typically identify his books with bookplates or signatures, bequeathed many of the books to the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia.  The Museum subsequently identified a number of books that it decided to sell.  This set is accompanied by a certification from the auctioneer to attest that it was sold on behalf of the Rosenbach Museum, thereby confirming the Sendak provenance.
Both volumes are nicely bound in 1/2 leather with marbled boards and marbled endpapers and gilt titles on the spines.  The top edges are gilt as well.  Other than minor scuffing, there are no marks or damage. AS.