STOWE, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896). Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly. Boston: J. P. Jewett; Cleveland: Jewett, Proctor and Worthington, 1852.

STOWE, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896). Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly. Boston: J. P. Jewett; Cleveland: Jewett, Proctor and Worthington, 1852.

2 volumes, 8o (189 x 114 mm). Title-page vignettes and six engraved plates. Modern black morocco, spines gilt-lettered and -decorated, top edges gilt, by Riviere, original covers and spines bound in at end.

FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING of Stowe's passionate anti-slavery novel. "Into the emotion-charged atmosphere of mid-nineteenth-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' ... Whatever its weakneses as a literary work -- structural looseness and excess of sentiment among them -- the social impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin on the United States was greater than that of any book before or since" (PMM 332). BAL 19343; Grolier American 61; Grolier English 183.

[Tipped in:] STOWE, Harriet Beecher. Autograph letter signed ("H.B. Stowe") to "Mr. Prescott" [possibly William Hinckley Prescott], Paris, 2 December [ca. 1866]. 4 pages, 8vo. A FINE LETTER OF LITERARY IMPORT, DISCUSSING HER LOVE FOR NINA IN 'DRED.' Thanking him for his kind words about her recent work, "It is a weakness that attends us makers of puppet shows that we sometimes conceive a real human affection for some of our corps de ballet as Pygmalion for his statue. I had such a weakness for my little Nina... In fact I have such a motherly weakness for the poor child that whoever speaks well of her becomes henceforth a discerning person in my eyes... " Stowe continues with a lengthy discussion of Nina's character. Dred, A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp was originally published in 1856. It was reissued in 1866 under the title Nina Gordon. About this time, Stowe made a second visit to England, and an extended tour of the continent. It is at this time she most likely wrote the present letter.

[Also tipped in:] STOWE, Harriet Beecher. Albumen portrait of Stowe signed on mount ("Harriet Beecher Stowe").

[With:] STOWE, Harriet Beecher. The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Boston: John P. Jewett, 1853. 8o. Modern brown half morocco, original printed wrappers bound in. FIRST EDITION. BAL 19359. (3)