LE FANTÔME DE L'OPÉRA (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) by Leroux, Gaston - 1910

Paris: Pierre Lafitte, 1910. First French Edition. First Impression, with 12 titles listed at verso of half-title page, and 19 titles listed on the rear wrapper. Octavo (19cm); vertical-patterned sage green cloth, with titles and fleur-de-lis stamped in gilt on spine; original pictorial wrappers bound in; top edge stained red; [4], 520pp. Fine. First edition in book format of Leroux's most enduring work of fiction, inspired from real events which took place in the Opera Garnier. First serialized in the pages of the daily paper Le Gaulois from 23 September, 1909 - 8 January, 1910, the novel was published by Pierra Lafitte in April 1910 and reprinted often over the following decade. Leroux's novel has since become the source for numerous adaptations, including the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony Award-winning musical. The first printing is uncommon, the present copy rebound but preserving the colors on the original wrappers perfectly. OCLC finds just 7 locations in US institutions for the first edition (Cal.State Library catalog, Yale, Indiana, Boston Athenaeum, Harvard, Merrimack College, Johns Hopkins), and an additional 7 in international libraries.