THE WESTERN BOY, OR THE ROAD TO SUCCESS by Alger, Horatio (Jr.) - 1878

NEW YORK: G.W. Carleton/Street and Smith, 1878. FIRST EDITION. Hardcover. Very Good Minus. Issued in 1878 by Francis S. Street and Francis S. Smith, publishers of the New York Weekly ("The Leading Story and Sketch Paper of The Age"), the decorated boards are of brown cloth with a picture of Tom The Bootblack (the title of one of the reprint versions) on the front. There may have been a green variant. Spine depicts a setting sun, an arrow heading straight - on the vertical - for its target, the words "Illustrated" about three-quarters of the way down the spine, and "The American News Co." at spine's bottom.
Corners lightly bumped, and only a very occasional boy-like thumb-smudge or crimped corner to page. Slight spine lean. Chapter headings appear at the top of every page, and on p. 249 what should read "Hugh Betrays His Principal" reads instead "Hugh Aetrays His Principal." Clean, bright copy of one of Alger's scarcest titles, and hardest for collectors to come by.