First American edition, early printing
Publisher and Year: New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1886 (but ca. 1887)
Edition: First American edition, early printing (six titles on the leaf facing the title page and the rear catalog starting with "Dostoevsky's Works"). The first printing would have no titles listed at the front of the book and the rear catalog would be headed with "Crowell's Red Line Poets." Of note, Crowell did not update the publication year or mark reprintings of the novel throughout the 1880s and 1890s. The present example dates to approximately 1887, with the latest title advertised at the front (Tolstoy's The Invaders) published in October of that year. Later printings would have a greater number of titles listed and advertise books printed in later years.
Condition and Description: Octavo, brown cloth stamped in gilt, 773 pp (+ 3 pp. glossary and 4 pp. catalog). Some rubbing and scuffing to the boards. Tips bumped. Spine slightly dulled. Top edge darkened. Hinges uncommonly tight. Binding sound, though intermittently over-opened with thread holes visible in the gutters, but no cracking. Small pencil note to the front endpapers. Small blind debossed stamp to the top of the title page and a small chip to the bottom, not affecting the text. Pages lightly tanned but clear, with occasional unobtrusive thumb soiling, and a few instances of handling marks including a short tear to the upper margin of p. 525 (not affecting the text), a corner crease to the upper-right corner of p. 551, and a crease to the bottom-right corner of pp. 613-634 (also not affecting the text). A few select close-ups provided at the end of the gallery.
Bibliographic Note: Crowell's Russian books have never been the subject of a formal descriptive bibliography. However, some issue points have been established. The first printing of Anna Karenina (1) did not advertise any titles on the leaf facing the title page and (2) used a rear catalog without any of Crowell's other Russian works listed (to this point, only two had been translated and published).
Subsequent printings of Anna Karenina are identifiable by the number of titles listed on the leaf facing the title page. As the number of titles listed increased, so did the publication dates of the advertised content, making differences in priority clear. For example, whereas the present copy (6 titles) advertises Tolstoy's The Invaders (published by Crowell in 1887), copies listing 17 titles at the front advertise Tolstoy's Power and Liberty (written in Russian in 1888 and published by Crowell in 1889).
Of note, the year 1890 marked two significant changes to Crowell's edition. One is the change of floral endpapers to plain stock, and the other is the removal of the 13 Astor Place address on the title page, a consequence of the firm's relocation to 46 East 14th Street in May of that year.
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
Inventory ID: 351 - 972 - 652
First American edition, early printing
Publisher and Year: New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1886 (but ca. 1887)
Edition: First American edition, early printing (six titles on the leaf facing the title page and the rear catalog starting with "Dostoevsky's Works"). The first printing would have no titles listed at the front of the book and the rear catalog would be headed with "Crowell's Red Line Poets." Of note, Crowell did not update the publication year or mark reprintings of the novel throughout the 1880s and 1890s. The present example dates to approximately 1887, with the latest title advertised at the front (Tolstoy's The Invaders) published in October of that year. Later printings would have a greater number of titles listed and advertise books printed in later years.
Condition and Description: Octavo, brown cloth stamped in gilt, 773 pp (+ 3 pp. glossary and 4 pp. catalog). Some rubbing and scuffing to the boards. Tips bumped. Spine slightly dulled. Top edge darkened. Hinges uncommonly tight. Binding sound, though intermittently over-opened with thread holes visible in the gutters, but no cracking. Small pencil note to the front endpapers. Small blind debossed stamp to the top of the title page and a small chip to the bottom, not affecting the text. Pages lightly tanned but clear, with occasional unobtrusive thumb soiling, and a few instances of handling marks including a short tear to the upper margin of p. 525 (not affecting the text), a corner crease to the upper-right corner of p. 551, and a crease to the bottom-right corner of pp. 613-634 (also not affecting the text). A few select close-ups provided at the end of the gallery.
Bibliographic Note: Crowell's Russian books have never been the subject of a formal descriptive bibliography. However, some issue points have been established. The first printing of Anna Karenina (1) did not advertise any titles on the leaf facing the title page and (2) used a rear catalog without any of Crowell's other Russian works listed (to this point, only two had been translated and published).
Subsequent printings of Anna Karenina are identifiable by the number of titles listed on the leaf facing the title page. As the number of titles listed increased, so did the publication dates of the advertised content, making differences in priority clear. For example, whereas the present copy (6 titles) advertises Tolstoy's The Invaders (published by Crowell in 1887), copies listing 17 titles at the front advertise Tolstoy's Power and Liberty (written in Russian in 1888 and published by Crowell in 1889).
Of note, the year 1890 marked two significant changes to Crowell's edition. One is the change of floral endpapers to plain stock, and the other is the removal of the 13 Astor Place address on the title page, a consequence of the firm's relocation to 46 East 14th Street in May of that year.
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
Inventory ID: 351 - 972 - 652
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