War and Peace | Tolstoy, Leo | 1889, 1st authorized edition in English, the only recorded example in the publisher's deluxe binding...

First authorized edition in English. The only first-issue copy in the publisher's half-calf binding that we can locate in any commercial or institutional records.

Publisher and Year: New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1889

Edition: First authorized edition. First issue, with the publisher’s address of 13 Astor Place on the title pages (removed in later issues due to the firm’s relocation to 46 East 14th Street in May 1890).(1,2) The first edition in English translated directly from the original Russian. Preceded in English by an unauthorized edition rendered from a French translation of the Russian (NY: William S. Gottsberger, 1886), a text that omits much of the original and is considered “nearer to paraphrase than translation.”(3)

Crowell advertised War and Peace in three tiers: blue cloth (4 vols. in 2 books, $3.00), olive cloth (4 vols. in 4, $5.00), and in half-calf leather (4 vols. in 2).(4) The half-calf binding was not sold separately, but only as part of an expensive set of nine Tolstoy volumes ($25, roughly $875 today). Despite marketing these half-calf sets in newspapers,(6) trade catalogs,(4) and the advertisement leaves in their cloth books,(5) sales appear to have been poor given the scarcity of these volumes. 

We can locate no other first issue copy of War and Peace in Crowell's half-calf binding after an extensive census of auction records, dealer catalogs, and institutional holdings. A bibliographic discussion with references is presented at the end of this listing. 

Condition and Description: Duodecimos, tan calf leather over marbled paper boards, dark red and green morocco title labels, spine tooled in gilt, top edge gilt, other edges rough trimmed, contrasting marbled endpapers. Four volumes in two books, as issued. Book I (Vols. I–II): [2], title page (Vol. I), iii–v (preface), 1–359, title page (Vol. II), 1–392, [2]. Book II (Vols. III–IV): [2], title page (Vol. III), 1–424, title page (Vol. IV), 1–364, 365–405 (synopsis), 406–408 (characters and places), [2]. Translated by Nathan Haskell Dole. No ad leaf facing the title page in either volume, as typical for Crowell's deluxe productions (this leaf is only present in the cheapest of the three bindings). Tight hinges and binding. Gilt bright. Leather supple, but modestly rubbed and with areas of darkening. Previous owner’s name (Vera Erickson) in pencil in Vol 2. A note in pencil in Vol 1 records the conversion of a Russian unit of distance (versts) to feet. Scattered minor staining and handling marks within. A beautiful and sound example of the publisher's rarest binding.

Bibliographic Note. 

First Issue Identification. During the 1880s and 1890s, Crowell did not explicitly mark editions or printings on the title or copyright pages of their books. In the case of War and Peace, the copyright page remained unchanged for several years. However, Crowell did alter the sheets over time, making it possible to establish printing priority. When War and Peace was first published in September 1889, Crowell’s offices were located at 13 Astor Place in New York City, with that address printed on the title pages and ad leaves. Crowell removed the 13 Astor address from the title pages due to their relocation to 46 East 14th Street on May 1st, 1890, creating a new issue of War and Peace.(1,2) Later issues are identifiable by the addition of ad leaves referring to books or binding variants published in subsequent years (e.g., Tolstoy’s The Resurrection, first issued by Crowell in 1900),(21) the inclusion of addresses other than 13 Astor Place, the removal of the C.J. Peters and Sons typesetting imprint from the copyright pages, and new copyright dates in the late 1890s.

Half-Calf Bindings. From 1885 to 1887, Crowell issued Tolstoy only in cloth, with individual volumes priced at $0.75–$1.75.7-9 In August 1888, the firm introduced a deluxe half-calf binding, with titles only available as a complete 13-volume set at $36 (roughly $1,200 today).(10) Individual half-calf volumes were not offered, explaining their scarcity. In August 1889, Crowell announced War and Peace for publication in September and offered it in blue cloth (4 vols. in 2, $3.00) and olive cloth (4 vols. in 4, $5.00).(4) At the same time, the novel was incorporated into a revised half-calf Tolstoy set of nine volumes at $25 (about $875 today). The reduction in volumes of twelve to nine was achieved by combining shorter titles into a single book (e.g., Childhood, Boyhood, Youth bound together with What to Do?). As before, half-calf volumes were not offered separately. Of note, War and Peace was the only first printing book in the 1889 half-calf sets, as the other volumes were reprints of titles issued in prior years. Crowell continued to advertise half-calf Tolstoy sets throughout the 1890s,(11-20) introducing substantive changes to the sheets and decorative styles over time.

Search for Other Copies. A systematic review of auction records (RBH, ABSA, WorthPoint, Live Auctioneers, Invaluable, and all major individual auction sites), dealer catalogs, and institutional holdings (Worldcat) revealed no other first-issue copy of War and Peace in Crowell’s half-calf binding. We did locate several half-calf sets from the 1890s, but they postdate Crowell’s move from 13 Astor and differ in the sheets and binding execution.

However, we managed to locate three other Tolstoy volumes from the 13 Astor period in bindings identical to War and Peace: (1)Ivan Ilyitch, (2) Childhood, Boyhood, Youth(CBY), and (3)What to Do? (WTD). We obtained the latter two for material analysis. All three carry different provenance (Susanna Holmes) than War and Peace(Vera Erickson). These three volumes come from an 1888 half-calf set and could not have been issued alongside War and Peace, since by 1889 (1) CBY and WTD had been combined into a single volume for the reduced nine-volume sets, and (2) WTD had been updated to the Dole translation, while the example we found preserves the earlier Hapgood text. These findings show continuity in the binding style of Crowell’s half-calf Tolstoy volumes across 1888-1889.

Comparison of Half-Calf to Cloth Copies.The sheets of the half-calf copies are rough trimmed, leaving the page edges noticeably uneven, with many pages retaining their original deckle edge. In contrast, their cloth counterparts were cut more deeply to achieve smooth edges, resulting in pages of uniform height and with no deckle edges remaining. This confirms that the half-calf copies were bound from uncut sheets rather than text-blocks designated for cloth copies. Binders can trim sheets, but cannot add the original deckle edges once removed.

The Tolstoy half-calf volumes conform to Crowell’s broader half-calf treatments for other authors during the 13 Astor period. Across authors, Crowell employed the same tan calf, the same double blind-ruled cornering at the leather–paper borders, and the same rough-trimmed fore and bottom edges. The marbled boards on the Tolstoy examples match those used on other Crowell half-calf titles. In addition, the practice of pairing different marbled patterns on boards and endpapers recurs often, but not always, across the firm’s bindings. Finally, in contrast to the cloth bindings, which typically carried advertisement leaves and catalogs, Crowell’s half-calf productions omitted such promotional material in all examined cases.

References.

1. [Notice of Crowell’s intent to relocate to E. 14th St under the heading, Business notes]. (1890, March 8).The Publishers’ Weekly, 37(945), 358
   

2. [Notice of Crowell’s relocation to E. 14th St. completed on May 1 under the heading, Notes]. (1890, May 17).The Critic, 16(332), 242
   

3. [Translator’s Note]. Tolstoy, L. (2009). War and Peace(A. Briggs, Trans.). Penguin UK.
   

4. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1889, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1889 (pp. 621–648). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
   

5. The New York Times, 21 November 1888, page 5
   

6. Ad leaf from Crowell’s 1888-1889 Tolstoy volumes in cloth, including the first issue ofWar and Peace(blue cloth; the 4-vol-in-4 olive cloth copies do not contain any advertisement leaves like the rest of Crowell’s deluxe offerings from the period)
   

7. First of Crowell’s Tolstoi books published, issued only in cloth. The Publishers' Weekly, 12 December 1885, Issue 24, page 925
   

8. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1886, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1886 (pp. 1003–1016). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
   

9. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1887, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1887 (pp. 786–802). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
   

10. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1888, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1888 (pp. 669–688). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

11. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1890, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1890 (pp. 677–704). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

12. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1891, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1891 (pp. 871–902). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

13. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1892, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1892 (pp. 870–902). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

14. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1893, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1893 (pp. 726–757). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

15. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1894, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1894 (pp. 1056–1100). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

16. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1895, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1895 (pp. 1121–1165). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

17. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1896, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1896 (pp. 1130–1177). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

18. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1897, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1897 (pp. 1142–1195). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

19. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1898, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1898 (pp. 1004–1057). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

20. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1899, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1899 (pp. 1040–1111). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly
    

21. T. Y. Crowell & Co. (1900, August 1). Catalogue of publications [Trade catalog]. In The publishers’ trade list annual, 1900 (pp. 1130–1209). New York, NY: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly