?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
MEREDITH, GEORGE. Farina: A Legend of Cologne. 8vo, original blindstamped light green cloth, Carter's binding "A", spine gilt-stamped, waterstains and finger-soiling, front joint splitting from top, with some touch-ups, corners rubbed with light exposure, spine gilt dulled; hinges tender, bound by Westley's with their ticket; custom chemise and 1/2 green morocco pull-off case (skinned along one edge). London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1857
first edition, fragile first issue binding, inscribed presentation copy, with Meredith's inscription on title-page: "Holdgua [?] from his friend George." With 16 pages publisher's advertisements dated July, 1857 at end. Sadleir ranks Farina at number 2 (behind Rhoda Fleming) in his list of comparative scarcity, adding that "Few Victorian fictions are more seldom seen than those numbered 1 to 4" (Sadleir 1696); Carter, Binding Variants, p. 138. Provenance: John F. Fleming copy, sold at his sale (Christie's New York, 18 November, 1988, lot 238). one of only two signed copies of this title to appear at auction.
