Maruja by Bret Harte - 1887

UK: Chatto and Windus, 1887. New Edition . Cloth. Fair. 24mo - over 5 - 5¾" tall. New Edition 1887. An early 'Yellowback style book' A yellowback is a cheap novel or book which was published in Britain in the second half of the 19th century. Developed in the 1840s to compete with the "penny dreadful", yellow-backs were marketed as entertaining reading. They had brightly coloured covers, often printed by chromoxylography, that were attractive to a new class of readers, thanks to the spread of education and rail travel. Routledge was one of the first publishers to begin marketing yellow-backs by starting their "Railway Library" in 1848. The series included 1,277 titles, published over 50 years. These mainly consisted of stereotyped reprints of novels originally published as cloth editions. By the late 19th century quite a few publishers were issuing their own versions of yellow-backs eg Chatto and Windus, Smith Elder,Longmans, Ward Lock. They included sensational fiction, adventure stories, "educational" manuals, handbooks, and cheap biographies. Book is average and very worn but complete and usable. Edges and surface quite rubbed in places. Light loss to spine tips. Hinges repaired professionally. Contents quite good. Early pages a little age toned. More images can be taken upon request. Ref 17939