The Valley of Decision (2 volumes)
by Wharton, Edith
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Steelton, Pennsylvania, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1902. This is a handsome First Edition, Second State (Manhattan Press), of Edith Wharton's first novel, published February, 1902. It's also her only historical novel, set during the Italian Renaissance, yet contains some of the themes she would explore in her later Society novels. This two-volume set is in very good condition, with burgundy cloth covers and gilt lettering on the spine. There is also top-edge gilt. The side and bottom edges are rough cut. The binding is tight and secure. An exceptional non-acidic paper stock was used, so that the pages are as bright and creamy today as they were over a century ago. The books have some light rubbing at the extremities. Each volume measures 5 1/4 by 7 3/4 inches. Volume I has 343 pages; Volume II, 311 pages. Shipping costs will be adjusted. See photo.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. Chap Book.
Synopsis
Life at Pontesordo was in truth not very pleasant for an ardent and sensitive little boy of nine, whose remote connection with the reigning line of Pianura did not preserve him from wearing torn clothes and eating black bread and beans out of an earthen bowl on the kitchen doorstep."Go ask your mother for new clothes!" Filomena would snap at him, when his toes came through his shoes and the rents in his jacket-sleeves had spread beyond darning. "These you are wearing are my Giannozzo's, as you well know, and every rag on your back is mine, if there were any law for poor folk, for not a copper of pay for your keep or a stitch of clothing for your body have we had these two years come Assumption--. What's that? You can't ask your mother, you say, because she never comes here? True enough--fine ladies let their brats live in cow-dung, but they must have Indian carpets under their own feet. Well, ask the abate, then--he has lace ruffles to his coat and a naked woman painted on his snuff box--What? He only holds his hands up when you ask? Well, then, go ask your friends on the chapel-walls--maybe they'll give you a pair of shoes--though Saint Francis, for that matter, was the father of the discalced, and would doubtless tell you to go without!" And she would add with a coarse laugh: "Don't you know that the discalced are shod with gold?"It was after such a scene that the beggar-noble, as they called him at Pontesordo, would steal away to the chapel and, seating himself on an upturned basket or a heap of pumpkins, gaze long into the face of the mournful saint.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Grimalkin Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 000053
- Title
- The Valley of Decision (2 volumes)
- Author
- Wharton, Edith
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Charles Scribner's Sons
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1902
- Bookseller catalogs
- General Fiction; American Literature; Women's Literature;
- Size
- 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
Grimalkin Books
Grimalkin Books is located in Steelton, Pennsylvania, the first town south of Harrisburg. We specialize in older, unusual books and sets, often literary, artistic, or historical. "Grimalkin" is old English for an old gray cat, mainly because the owner, Bob Amsel, is a cat lover. All books subject to prior sale. Payment must be received within 10 days of the order or item will be returned to stock. We accept money orders, bank checks, personal checks (allow time to clear), PayPal or MasterCard/Visa through Biblio's credit card processing service. International orders must be paid in US dollars and can be paid via PayPal, credit card (through ABE), or International Postal Money Order. Your purchase will be carefully packaged to protect it during shipping. Books may not be returned just because the buyer has changed his mind. Only books with actual defects that were not mentioned by the seller in the listing may be returned. Please insure returns for their full value.
About the Seller
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- 12mo
- A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...
- Second State
- used in book collecting to refer to a first edition, but after some change has been made in the printing, such as a correction,...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
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