"FOUL PLAY" First American Edition, First Issue of the novel by Charles Reade as serialized in "EVERY SATURDAY: A Journal of Choice Reading Selected from Foreign Current Literature". Volume 5, consisting of 26 issues from January 4 through June 27, 1868. [COMPLETE with 4 George du Maurier plates].

Boston, MA: Ticknor & Fields, 1868., 1868.. Good. - Large octavo, 10-3/4 inches high by 7 inches wide. Softcovers, twenty-six issues each bound in the original pictorial buff wraps, each illustrated with a vignette of a globe beneath the banner title held by 2 cherubs and with an illustration of an "Atlantic and Pacific R.R. Co.", train labeled "For Home & Travel" below. The covers are creased and several are stained with some chipping to the edges of the wrappers. The wrappers on 5 issues are detached. Each issue has a small subscriber's label on the front wrap. Approximately 40 pages per issue, including the covers and pictorial ads and a total of 4 plates by George du Maurier. Each of the issues has light to moderate dampstaining to approximately the top 1/3 of the pages. The overlapping edges of many pages are slightly chipped and there are ink stains on pages 303-304. A complete run of the issues which contained the full text of Charles Reade's novel.

RARE in serial form.

The contents are as follows: Volume 5, No. 105. Consisting of pages (1-4), 1-32, & (5-8) containing the text to "Foul Play" Part 1; Volume 5, No. 106. Pages (1-4), 33-64, & (5-8). The wrappers are detached. "Foul Play" Part 2; Volume 5, No. 107. (1-4), 65-96, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 3; Volume 5, No. 108. (1-4), 97-128, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 4; Volume 5, No. 109. (1-4), 129-160, (5-8) pages. The wrappers are detached, "Foul Play" Part 5. Also in this issue: Matthew Arnold: "Anarchy and Authority", Richard A. Proctor: "Colored Suns", Algernon Charles Swinburne "Ave Atque Vale: In Memory of Charles Baudelaire" and Tennyson "On a Spiteful Letter". Volume 5, No. 110. (1-4), 161-192, (5-8) pages. This issue does not publish a chapter of "Foul Play". However, laid into this issue is du Maurier's plate "The Arrest". The edges of the plate are chipped with staining in the margins. Volume 5, No. 111. (1-4), 193-224, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 6. Also in this issue: Tennyson "Wages" from Advance Sheets of Macmillan's Magazine. Volume 5, No. 112. (1-4), 225-256, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 7. Laid into this issue is the du Maurier plate "On Shipboard". The right half of the plate is dampstained. Also in this issue: Fanny Kemble "Lady Macbeth" from Advance Sheets, Robert Buchanan "A London Lyric" from Advance Sheets and Tennyson "1865-1866" from Advance Sheets. Volume 5, No. 113. (1-4), 257-288, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 8. Also in this issue: Matthew Arnold "Anarchy and Authority" (Second Paper) and Arminius Vambery "Days and Nights in Persia". Volume 5, No. 114. (1-4), 289-320, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 9; Volume 5, No. 115. (1-4), 321-352, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 10. Also in this issue: "Some Curious Facts About Playing-Cards" translated from the French. Volume 5, No. 116. (1-4), 353-384, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 11. Laid into this issue is the du Maurier plate "On Board the Cutter". There is light dampstaining to the plate. Volume 5, No. 117. (1-4), 385-416, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 12. There is a long tear to the front wrapper, without loss, and the wrappers are detached. Volume 5, No. 118. (1-4), 417-448, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 13. Also in this issue is "Diary in Libby Prison" by Lieutenant-Colonel Szabad. Volume 5, No. 119. (1-4), 449-480, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 14. Also in this issue "A Liberal Education and Where to Find It" by Professor Huxley. Volume 5, No. 120. (1-4), 481-512, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 15. There is a textual illustration of stones, the outline of which "resembled a great fish wanting the tail". Also in this issue: "Billiards and Billiard Players" from Advance Sheets of London Society and "Memorial Literature of the American War" by G.O. Trevelyan from Advance Sheets of Macmillan's Magazine. Volume 5, No. 121. (1-4), 513-544, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 16. The wrappers are detached. Volume 5, No. 122. (1-4), 545-576, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 17. There is a half-page textual diagram, a circle illustrating a "Round Robin". Also in this issue: Tennyson "Lucretius" from Advance Sheets. Volume 5, No. 123. (1-4), 577-608, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 18. There is a textual diagram featuring 2 arrows indicating courses of a ship. Volume 5, No. 124. (1-4), 609-640, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 19. Also in this issue: Christina G. Rossetti "Two Poems" and "A Mahomedan Version of Bible History". Volume 5, No. 125. (1-4), 641-672, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 20. Also in this issue: James Greenwood "The Soul Trap". Volume 5, No. 126. (1-4), 673-704, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 21. Laid into this issue is the du Maurier plate "Helen Rolleston and Arthur Wardlaw". The plate has a corner crease. Volume 5, No. 127. (1-4), 705-736, (5-8) pages;. "Foul Play" Part 22. Also in this issue George Eliot "Lyrics from 'The Spanish Gypsy'". Volume 5, No. 128. (1-4), 737-768, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Part 23. Volume 5, No. 129. (1-4), 769-800, (5-8) pages, "Foul Play" Concluded. Also in this issue "The White Camellia: A London Story". Volume 5, No. 130. (1-4), 801-828, (5-8) pages. The wrappers are detached. Bound into this issue is the overall title page and the table of contents for Volume 5, January-June, 1868. Also in this issue is Matthew Arnold "Anarchy and Authority" (Third Paper) and Charles Dickens "A Debt of Honor" from All the Year Round.

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, FIRST ISSUE as serialized in "Every Saturday".

FOUL PLAY is a novel concerned with the issue of unseaworthy ships. In this instance, these were ships that were overloaded and heavily insured by their owners, many of whom were members of Parliament. The novel and the stage play that derived from it aspired to create public support for safety measures such as those proposed by Samuel Plimsoll in the 1870's. Public pressure eventually swayed Parliament to pass The Merchant Shipping Act of 1876.

The novelist and dramatist Charles Reade (1814-1884) is best known for his novel "The Cloister and the Hearth". Dion Boucicault (1820-1890) was an Irish born American actor and playwright.