Dracula.

STOKER, Bram (1847-1912).

Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company, 1897. [Vampire classic] FIRST EDITION, early printing (likely the fourth print), 'thinner' copy. Octavo ( ), pp.x; [1], 390, [1], blank; adverts/catalogue numbered [1-4], 5-16. The ads begin with Stoker's 'The Shoulder of Shasta', and both 'Shasta' and 'Dracula' are noted later within the catalogue, 'Dracula' to p.10 (importantly without its edition noted). Other and later lists have been recorded, some promoting Dracula in '5th Edition'. Original yellow cloth blocked in red, edges untrimmed. Neat (and helpful) contemporary ink name dated 'February 1898'. However an unhelpful previous owner has affixed maps of Transylvania over the first three pages of adverts, obscuring the first 'Shasta' notice (although visible when seen through a light). Contents are generally clean, if a little toned, inside paper joints parted, small loss to lower (blank) margin of advert pp.13/14. Covers are used, showing usual expected wear, some bubbling and soiling to cloth, backstrip toned/darkened, spine tips frayed. Remains solid. An honest copy in the original unsophisticated binding. So many of the first editions have subsequently been rebound that locating any copy in the publisher's binding is a tall order. A scarce early issue of one of the most important weird tales in the history of the weird. The printing history of Dracula is complex; first printings (May 1897) are on thick paper and have no adverts at all; the second printing includes the 'Shasta' leaf but no further ads; thinner text block copies follow, such as this, and contain an undated 16-page publisher's catalogue, of which later dated versions may include an advert for Dracula. There are no textual differences concerning the early printings. Item #76705

DALBY, Richard. Bram Stoker - A Bibliography.

Price: £12,500.00