The House of Mirth

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905. First Edition. First edition, first printing, American issue. (No ads at rear. As per Garrison later US printings had ads at rear.) [vi], 533 pp. with frontispiece and seven illustrated plates. Bound in publisher's red ribbed cloth lettered in gilt. Near Fine with slight lean to binding; slight darkening to spine and mottling to cloth. Former owner gift inscription to front paste down and slight perfume odor to pages. In the scarce original dust jacket in impressive condition, light edge wear and spine darkening, Very Good+ with partial splits to the spine joints and a mostly closed tear at the top end of the front (truncated) spine joint. Generally bright and attractive, putting the example of the jacket reproduced in Garrison to shame. A suppressed issue of the jacket with a line stating "for the first time, the veil has been lifted from New York society" is mentioned by Wharton's biographer R.W.B. Lewis (p. 151); Wharton had the jacket changed and the offending line deleted before the book was formally issued; it was unseen by Garrison and is not present on this example.A critical and commercial success as well as a masterpiece of literature, as the publisher correctly predicted on the dust jacket. APG 012b, Garrison A12.I.a1. (Inventory #: 140945397)