Lewis Carroll. 1st edition, 1st state. 1876 The Hunting of the Snark. MacMillan, London

First edition, first state of Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark, bound handsomely by Riviere & Son (stamped, verso of free endpaper).

About the Work -

The narrative follows a crew of ten trying to hunt the Snark, a creature which may turn out to be a highly dangerous Boojum. The only crewmember to find the Snark quietly vanishes...

The poem is dedicated to young Gertrude Chataway, whom Carroll met at the English seaside town Sandown in the Isle of Wight in 1875.

Bibliographic Details -

In this first state we find the word "Baker" printed on page 83. This is a misprint that was corrected in later states, Carroll meaning the word to be "Banker".

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 18 x 12 x 1.5 cm. Crushed calf binding, stamped by Riviere & Son. Spine with five raised bands; four compartments with a central gilt floret surrounded by stars and corner florets, two compartments with the title and author in gilt on black morocco leather. Boards framed in triple gilt fillet. Turn-ins rolled with a leafy floret pattern. Brown and white endbands. Dark blue endpapers.

Pages - viii leaves prefatory, 3-83, verso of 83 colophon, one leaf of advertisement at rear.

Collation - a4, b4, B-K4, L6

Condition -

See pictures. Some soiling, darkening, thumbing, etc. to vellum binding. A ticket is on the front cover, with a ms. inscription in an old hand. No endpapers/pastedowns. Some notes on rear of front board in graphite. Hippocrates is missing a fold-out of fractures. Paper toned throughout, with an occasional rust spot, candle ember, chipped edge, dog-eared page, etc.. Ink marks on front fly leaves. Some thumbing throughout. Underlining and marginal annotations in an old hand. Good margins, the annotations are not cropped. Occasional tiny wormholes at fore-edge margin. Intermittent moisture mark right at fore-edge margin; only on a handful of leaves does it reach the text. Fore-edge margin mark on verso of Libellus leaf 20, no text affected. Last blank leaf with more soiling and thumbing than the others.