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Smith, Albert Richard (1816-1860) Mont Blanc, First Edition, Author's Presentation Copy.
London: Printed for Private Circulation, 1852.
First edition, 12mo, with inscription in Smith's hand at top of title, "with the Author's kind regards, 1852," in blue ink; bound in contemporary full dark morocco, ornately tooled in gilt and titled on front board; front hinge repaired; bottom corner of dedication leaf chipped with loss (not affecting text); 6 1/4 x 3 7/8 in.
"Albert Smith is one of the most famous Victorians of whom you've probably never heard. During his lifetime, he was a household name, thrilling audiences with his Ascent of Mont Blanc show at London's Egyptian Hall. An inveterate showman, Smith was also a doctor, journalist, raconteur, novelist, travel writer, and playwright. His many talents were outstripped only by his boundless self-belief and huge personality. Even Queen Victoria described him in her journal as "inimitable", an epithet Smith's contemporary Charles Dickens liked to reserve for himself. [...] While his bumptiousness made Smith a divisive figure, many saw in him the Victorian ideal of the self-made man: energetic, imaginative, and ready to seize any new opportunity. As Alan McNee explains in this lively biography, it was his intrepid ascent of Mont Blanc in 1851 that propelled Smith to stardom. His subsequent show inspired ‘Mont Blanc mania', encouraging participation in mountaineering as a popular pursuit." (Quoted from the publisher's blurb from The Cockney Who Sold the Alps: Albert Smith and the Ascent of Mont Blanc by Alan McNee, London: Victorian Secrets, 2015.)
