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William Brown, 1789
Details
The Power of Sympathy
William Brown, 1789
[BROWN, William (1765-1793).] The Power of Sympathy. Boston: Isaiah Thomas, 1789.
First edition of one of the first American novels, the Newton copy in a contemporary binding. Purportedly an enlightened warning to women everywhere on the dangers of "seduction" and the importance of rationality over emotion, this anonymously-published novel is a pulpy tale of kidnapping, accidental incest, and suicide. Authorship was attributed for some time to the American poet Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton, by whose family scandal the book was loosely inspired. It is a distinctly American take on the European genre of the epistolary romance, informed by works like Clarissa and Les Liaisons dangereuses—but with lavish descriptions of the Rhode Island landscape and frank discussion of American chattel slavery. This copy is BAL state A of the text, and was formerly owned by two contemporary women readers. Rare at auction: no other copies recorded by ABPC or RBH in over 30 years. BAL 1518.
Two volumes, 12mo (167 x 101mm). Engraved frontispiece by Samuel Hill (a few leaves with closed tears affecting printed area, browning throughout ). Contemporary sheep (spine repaired, joints starting in vol. 2, a little rubbed); custom box and chemise. Provenance: "Elizabeth Rowie" (contemporary ownership inscription partially erased on title pages of both volumes) – "Mary D. Davis" (partially erased gift inscription in both volumes) – Alfred Edward Newton (1864-1940, American bibliophile; bookplate).
William Brown, 1789
[BROWN, William (1765-1793).] The Power of Sympathy. Boston: Isaiah Thomas, 1789.
First edition of one of the first American novels, the Newton copy in a contemporary binding. Purportedly an enlightened warning to women everywhere on the dangers of "seduction" and the importance of rationality over emotion, this anonymously-published novel is a pulpy tale of kidnapping, accidental incest, and suicide. Authorship was attributed for some time to the American poet Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton, by whose family scandal the book was loosely inspired. It is a distinctly American take on the European genre of the epistolary romance, informed by works like Clarissa and Les Liaisons dangereuses—but with lavish descriptions of the Rhode Island landscape and frank discussion of American chattel slavery. This copy is BAL state A of the text, and was formerly owned by two contemporary women readers. Rare at auction: no other copies recorded by ABPC or RBH in over 30 years. BAL 1518.
Two volumes, 12mo (167 x 101mm). Engraved frontispiece by Samuel Hill (a few leaves with closed tears affecting printed area, browning throughout ). Contemporary sheep (spine repaired, joints starting in vol. 2, a little rubbed); custom box and chemise. Provenance: "Elizabeth Rowie" (contemporary ownership inscription partially erased on title pages of both volumes) – "Mary D. Davis" (partially erased gift inscription in both volumes) – Alfred Edward Newton (1864-1940, American bibliophile; bookplate).
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Heather Weintraub
Specialist, Books, Manuscripts, & Archives