*SOLD*
 
Gaston Leroux
Paris, 1910
 
A classic of gothic fiction and a cultural icon. First book edition. Original unrestored wrappers - about a 1.5-inch split along bottom of front joint, tiny closed tear at bottom of front cover; internally clean with Brentano's label at rear. The front wrapper and spine have faded from greyish blue to grey. Withal, a Near Fine, barely touched, uncut copy and rare as such. I've seen a couple of others matching the points of this copy floating around the nether realms of the web and an institution copy, but all of them were heavily worn or rebound. A very difficult title for which to find reliable information, but here is the best that I've been able to track down.
 
First published as a serialization in Le Gaulois from September 23, 1909, to January 8, 1910, this first book form appeared in bookstores on March 26, 1910(Oxford Journal).
 
Even the printing process is a relative mystery. So while I use the term 'printing,’ issue may actually be the correct term. First printing meeting the following hallmarks:
 
- The cover is greyish blue, with the phantom's eyes and part of his face colored red. Pierre Lafitte's monthly magazine announced the cover of the book as being by Adolphe Cossard and mentioned that it was "colorful.”
- Copyright page mentions Leroux’s upcoming book that would be released in 1911, "Du même auteur, en préparation "Le fauteuil hanté."
- Typo on page 400 "fatal rocher" instead of "fatal nocher" such as properly mentioned in "Le Gaulois" serial(1909). This error appears in later printings so it’s not necessarily a priority.
- A "fausse mention d'édition" on the list of author's works, a common French technique to boost sales: touting the book as already in "12 édition,” 15 édition," or "30 édition.” Ultimately this is the most crux worthy point of note. In the world of early 20th century French publishing, exaggeration was the exercise of the day - with the aim of whipping up customers anxious to not miss out on the next great thing. The lowest number I've seen is 12 edition, with later printings having larger numbers like 30 edition. While this salesmanship technique doesn't necessarily rely on the size of the number, it doesn't pass the logic test that the publisher would tout a huge print run quite so soon into the release. Therefore a smaller number is in keeping with a realistic early run attempt to drum up sales.
 
The first print run probably didn't exceed a few thousand copies. Many were immediately bound, without the illustrated covers, as was customary at that time. Most of the few surviving copies in these fragile illustrated wrappers are generally in poor condition - to be mangled and tossed into the Seine.