£75
FIRST BRITISH EDITION, 8vo, pp. 256, [2], 32 [ads]. Original colour-printed yellow boards. First and last leaves toned. A little soiled and rubbed, some wear to edges. Ownership inscription of W.L.P. to flyleaf dated 12.7.[18]95, small ink stamp to flyleaf of Thacker & Co Ltd, Bombay to pastedown.
The first British edition of this cowboy romance novella about tomboy Flip Fairley and her outlaw lover Lance, by American author Bert Harte (1836-1902). By 1880 Harte was living in Glasgow and never returned to his native land, although he continued to produce stories set in the American west for the rest of his life. This yellowback edition bears ads to the rear dated October 1882; Sadlier records a copy in matching binding with ads dated July of that year, while Brussel records a copy in 'mustard brown cloth' with ads to rear dated February. All of them seem to have used the same sheets and all precede the first American printing, which Houghton Mifflin issued in November 1882 with one of the other stories in this collection, 'Found at Blazing Star', promoted to sharing the title-page. The third story here, A Gentleman of La Porte, was not collected for North American book publication until 1914.
