JANE EYRE. An Autobiography by [Brontë, Charlotte] - 1848

1848. [in the original 1848 wrappers] Edited by Currer Bell [pseudonym]. New York: Harper & Brothers, n.d. [1848?]. Original orange-brown wrappers printed in black. First American Edition, later issue (printing?), of one of the greatest novels of the Nineteenth Century. The first American edition of JANE EYRE was published, in wrappers only, by Harper & Brothers on January 4, 1848, as No. 109 in their "Library of Select Novels" -- with "1848" printed on both the title page and the front cover. This is a later printing, quite possibly issued still in 1848 but with those two dates removed; otherwise it is in the same format and binding as the first. The 1848-dated copies have several variations of inside front cover, inside rear cover, and outside rear cover, and this undated copy has pretty much the same -- "Recent Popular Productions" (various books first published in 1848) on the inside front cover, "Sterling Works for Libraries" (Smith's inside back cover "c"), and "Choice Library of Modern Romance" (Smith's back cover "b"). On the final leaf of text appears the ad for "Harper's New Catalogue" but without the first printing's "1847" after the publisher's street address (Smith says this was an intermediate state, with the final state being no such ad at all). Lastly, this copy does not have the solitary ad leaf (pages [174-175]), and therefore no list of Harper's "Library of Select Novels." This copy is overall in good condition. The front and rear wrappers are largely present, but both have considerable edge-wear and the rear wrapper has a closed tear; the spine is rolled (as usual) and most of the wrapper there is perished. There is a water-stain at the top of the first few leaves (but not the front cover). In all, far from fine -- but this paper-bound JANE EYRE was produced to be read and discarded, not to survive for 170 years. The fact that this copy lacks the "1848" dates makes this an opportunity to acquire one of the great novels of the 19th Century, in the original binding, at a small fraction of the price that a dated copy would command. Smith pp 41-45.