CARLO FRANCONI, THE LITTLE ITALIAN BOY AND OTHER STORIES FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT AND INSTRUCTION OF YOUNG PEOPLE
Philadelphia: C. G. Henderson, 1853. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Presumed first or certainly early edition, 1853 on title page, 1852 on copyright, in publishers tight weave brown cloth with a gilt-pressed image of an impoverished young boy and girl and a monkey front with blind-ruled and stamped border. unobtrusively rebacked with nearly all original spine with gilt laid back down, original polished yellow endpapers, short 8vo, 128 + 16p of illustrated Henderson catalogue of juvenile titles( eight new books, each with a full page engraving, plus 8 full page engravings in text, one which is the pictorial in gilt on the cover. The treatment of Italian orphan immigrant might have been charming then, now it would be Italo-phobic, anti-immigrant even. (I mean, the pet monkey trope alone!) Contemporary (19thC) bookplate of Isabel Douglass. Covers rubbed. Marginal light stain not affecting text for a few middle signatures. Very Good. Item #011792
Price: $100.00