Charles Brockden Brown, 1798

[BROWN, Charles Brockden (1771-1810).] Wieland: or, The Transformation: An American Tale. New York: J. & T. Swords for H. Caritat, 1798.

First edition of the first American Gothic novel, in a contemporary binding—"a nightmare expression of the fulfillment of repressed desire, anticipating Edgar Allan Poe's similarly claustrophobic tales of the grotesque" (Joyce Carol Oates). The Wieland family is tormented by spontaneous combustion, malevolent disembodied voices, and ultimately murder and madness in rural Pennsylvania. Although ridiculed in its own time for its far-fetched plot, Wieland had a wide influence both in America and abroad on authors from Nathaniel Hawthorne and Mary Shelley to H.P. Lovecraft, particularly in its suggestion that true horror is not necessarily to be found in the supernatural but in unhinged fanaticism—and at the ragged edge of human perception itself. Rare at auction, it is only recorded three times in the last 50 years by RBH and only one of those in an early binding. Sabin 103888; Evans 33461; BAL 1496.

12mo (170 x 101mm). 1 p. ad leaf at front (occasional spotting). Contemporary sheep, morocco title label (joints splitting, upper board nearly detached, worn); modern chemise and slipcase.

[With:] Wieland. London: Henry Colburn, 1822. First English edition, a fine triple-decker. Three volumes, 12mo. Contemporary half calf, spines gilt (wear to corners, removed bookplates). [And:] DUNLAP, William. Memoirs of Charles Brockden Brown. London: Henry Colburn, 1822. First English edition of the first biography of C.B. Brown, an essential source. Octavo. Contemporary half roan (later spine label, spine ends worn).