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Lot Number
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57
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Author
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[Brontë, Emily and Anne Brontë.]
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Title
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Wuthering Heights. A Novel by Ellis Bell and Agnes Grey. A novel by Acton Bell.
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Year Published
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1847
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Place Printed
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London: Thomas Cautley Newby,
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Description
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8vo (193 x 120mm.), 3 volumes, first edition, p.342 in volume one misnumbereed "242", p.382 in volume 2 misnumbered "282", p.313 in volume 3 misnumbered "213" (all points listed by Smith), without the advertisements sometimes present at the end of volume 3, nineteenth-century half calf by E. Riley and son, marbled boards and endpapers, top edges gilt, spines in six compartments decorated in gilt with morocco labels lettered in gilt, bookplates removed from upper paste-downs, very occasional minor spotting and browning to edges of some leaves PAPER
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Lot Note
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The very rare first edition (issued with her sister's novel Agnes Grey) in near fine condition of Emily Brontë's classic romantic work, consistently among the three best-selling novels in the English language. Almost universally rejected by uncomprehending reviewers upon publication (sales were not even of an order to justify any publisher's payment to either Emily or Anne Brontë) Wuthering Heights has since become established as one of the most extraordinary novels of the nineteenth century, combining passionate and vindictive characters, a moorland setting, casual violence, self-destructive love and a vengeful theme, all held together with "the complete absence of any moral tone or purpose—a quality almost unique in Victorian fiction" (Juliet Barker, Oxford DNB). LITERATURE Smith 3; Sadleir 350
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Estimated Price
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GBP 90,000.00 - 130,000.00( USD 139500.00 - USD 201500.00)
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Actual Price
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GBP 241,250.00 ( USD 373937.50)
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