War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo - 1886: (A Unique Set)

First American edition, first printing. Publisher's uniform decorated brown cloth, boards elaborately tooled and ruled in black, front boards lettered in gilt with gilt-stamped Napoleonic and Russian Imperial crests, spines lettered in gilt; brown-coated endpapers, flyleaves. General wear and rubbing particularly to spines and spine ends – more so on the later volumes, occasional light foxing to fore-edges. Large armorial bookplates in all volumes(Ex-Rugby School of Warwickshire, England - birthplace of rugby football). Overall a very good, untouched set. Housed in custom case.********* This American edition was released in two volume increments in three phases – January, May, and August of 1886. Recent scholarship makes a fairly compelling case that the virtually unattainable UK Vizetelly edition(commonly labeled as the first edition in English) was released simultaneously in January, thereby making this set, or at least the first two volumes, equals for first English language appearance. The books were released in both brown cloth and wrappers(complete wrappered sets when encountered, will cost you a healthy multiple of this asking price). While the American market sets are commonly available, ours offers an interesting wrinkle in that it's an export issue. Gottsberger set aside an unknown number of the first printing sets for release in Europe with title pages bearing the imprint of their publishing partners in London, Paris, and Leipzig containing Euro-market aimed advertisements at the rear – far less common than the ubiquitous domestic sets. This is a cool addition to the shelf, whether you're a Tolstoy fan or general high spot collector.******* I first read Tolstoy in my very early 20s. They say you won't understand him until you're 30. And they are right. The magic comes with the proper mix of life pain and acute self-awareness.

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