Fine Books & Manuscripts

STOWE, Harriet Beecher (1811–1896). Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, [together with:] autograph note signed by Stowe. Boston: John P. Jewett & Company…, 1852. 2 volumes. 8vo. Title vignettes, three wood–engraved plates in each volume probably after Hammatt Billings (six plates inserted total). Full crushed crimson morocco gilt framed, raised bands, compartments framed and with titles in gilt, all edges gilt, turn–ins with gilt fillets, gilt stamped by Sangorski & Sutcliffe for Heritage, original B cloth bound in (no sequence established); cloth slipcase. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE with all points present including “spilt” for “spiled” in Vol. I, p. 42, line 1; “cathecism” for “catechism” in Vol. II, p. 74, line 5; and the single imprint of Hobart & Robbins on copyright. –– [Bound with:] AN AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED FROM STOWE: “’Thanks be unto God who giveth u[s]/The Victory’/Harriet Beecher Stowe/Hartford Conn/Dec 15th 1894/Written for/Chauncey L. William[s].” A HANDSOME SET. BAL 19343; Grolier, 100 American, 61; Printing and the Mind of Man 332. First issued in serial form with three installments published for “The National Era”, the book form was quickly picked up by John P. Jewett and published before the conclusion of the serial in response to the popularity of the abolitionist cause. Three thousand copies were sold the day of publication, and before its first anniversary, 300,000 copies were sold in America, which John Winterish points out that “on a basis of proportionate population, this would be the equivalent of more than 1,500,000 copies today” (Grolier, 100 American). “In the emotion-charged atmosphere of mid-19th century America Uncle Tom’s Cabin exploded like a bombshell. To those engaged in fighting slavery it appeared as an indictment of all the evils inherent in the system they opposed; to the pro-slavery forces it was a slanderous attack on ‘the Southern way of life’… the social impact of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ on the United States was greater than that of any book before or since” (Printing and the Mind of Man).