Boston: Ticknor and Company, 1886. Item #1288

8vo. 230 x 180 mm., [9 ¼ x 7 ¼ inches]. vi + 251pp. + 2pp. of publisher’s other Howells titles. Illustrations throughout: “From Drawings and Etchings by Joseph Pennell and Others.” Publisher’s mauve-brown cloth over thick beveled boards, stamped on front and spine in black and gold with an eclectic Tuscan montage. Book is Very Good: all textblock edges gilt; hinges  and joints very solid; some internal relaxation of sewn gatherings; board corners slightly bumped with expected mild abrasion to spine head and foot.

First Thus. Note that title page gives 1886 as publication date; copyright page on verso gives "1884 and 1885." Republication by Ticknor, in an illustrated format, of a volume first published by J.R. Osgood & Co. in 1884. In it, Howells—like Twain, James, and others—does his evaluating duty as an American traveling abroad to capture Italian sights and society for an American public. Howell’s subset of the Grand Tour is here restricted predominantly to Florence, with much briefer glimpses of surrounding picturesque towns.

Jacob Blank, Bibliography of American Literature, 9620.  Harold Smith, American Travellers Abroad, H145.

Price: $250.00