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The Italian
by Radcliffe, Ann
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
St. Louis Park, Minnesota, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Three-volume first edition of the fifth and final novel Radcliffe saw published in her lifetime. Considered by many to have perfected the gothic literary form (culminating in The Italian), Radcliffe influenced the writings of such figures as Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Jane Austen. The popularity of her works meant that she became the highest-paid writer of the 1790s; The Italian brought in a staggering £800 from her publishers (£10 was a commonplace figure for a writer to receive for a manuscript). The first edition of The Italian did not contain the corrections Radcliffe made for the second edition (published in the same year); thus, this copy represents the earliest and most unadulterated textual version of an essential gothic novel.
Contemporary calf; spine, corners, and hinges rubbed. Gilt spines with black and gilt title and volume labels. Volume labels missing from 1 and 2; half of title label missing on volume 1. Hinges starting to crack but quite sound. Gilt board edges and marbled endpapers. Ownership stamps, catalog labels, and bookplates on FFE of all three volumes (including Bedford College for Women Tate Library, the first institute of higher education for women in the UK, and J.S. Harrison, Brandsburton Hall, likely Colonel James Harrison, notorious for visiting the Belgian Congo and returning with a group of pygmies who would live with him in Yorkshire for the next 2.5 years); one stamp on title pages. Scattered modern pencil marks on FFE ("3 vols") on all three. Slight pencil marks on RFE on vols 1 and 3; interior pages clear of marks or foxing. Some small tears to page corners and/or side edges in volumes 2 and 3 not affecting text.
Synopsis
From the first moment Vincentio di Vivaldi, a young nobleman, sets eyes on the veiled figure of Ellena, he is captivated by her enigmatic beauty and grace. But his haughty and manipulative mother is against the match and enlists the help of her confessor to come between them. Schedoni, previously a leading figure of the Inquisition, is a demonic, scheming monk with no qualms about the task, whether it entails abduction, tortureor even murder. The Italian secured Ann Radcliffe's position as the leading writer of Gothic romance of the age, for its atmosphere of supernatural and nightmarish horrors, combined with her evocation of sublime landscapes and chilling narrative.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Shannon Storey
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 18
- Title
- The Italian
- Author
- Radcliffe, Ann
- Format/Binding
- Calf
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- first
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Printed for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies
- Place of Publication
- The Strand, London
- Date Published
- 1797
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
Shannon Storey
About the Seller
Shannon Storey
About Shannon Storey
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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....
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...