Wieland, or, the Transformation; an American Tale [printer's proof copy] by Brown, Charles Brockden and J. Fellowes - 1798

New-York: Printed By T. & J Swords, for H. Caritat, 1798. First Edition. 12mo (Half-Sheet Imposition). 298 pages. The essay of S.W. Reid notes: "Wieland was first published on 14 September 1798 .... No manuscripts or proofsheets are known to have survived. So far as we know, this [the first edition] is the only edition that appeared in Brown's lifetime." The copy before us, however, proves that this is indeed an earlier printing that has survived and it differs in the following ways: (1) It has Charles Brockden Brown's full name on the title page (later delegated to the letters CBB on the advertisement page of the first edition; (2) It omits the semi-colon; (3) It adds An American Tale; (4) It omits the 4 line poem that is found in all first editions; (5) the fonts differ on the proposed title page; (6) It lacks the copy-right secured notice; (7) the printer's device is absent on the title page and the one on the last leaf is somewhat smaller; and [8] it does not have the advertisement page. cf. [Evans 33461; Wright, Louis H., American Fiction, 1774-1850 (2nd Edition) I, 426 and BAL 1496] all of which show the first edition. This copy is from the library of the legendary book collector A. Edward Newton with his bookplate on the front pastedown. Though it appears that most of the pages were printed at the same time of both the printers-proof copy and the first edition, the latter appeared on slightly larger wove paper which also was of somewhat better grade with the 1795 watermark which is barely visible but consistent with the watermarks of Brown's other printings in the 1798-1799 period. There are however a number of variations we have detected Page 2, line 20 in the first edition has the word "amazement" in a slightly larger font (cf, page. 2, line 8), A very small issue is page 2 line 26 in the printer-proof copy where a period exists between the words "that" and 'has" which indicates this page required the type to be reset. It does not initially appear that there are many other variations. The other possible issue is the "?" at the end of page 14 which may have been a case where the ink had experienced some drop off. While we have made a considerable effort to note where variations in the printings were noted, it is possible there may be others though not readily evident (we would certainly like to compare with a Hinman Collator but none were available to us). The following represent condition issues: p. 57 has a closed tear through the last line of text. Pages 75-78 have had the top and bottom margins severely trimmed for an undetermined reason; p. 203 has a small piece torn away affecting the last letter of 3 words; pages 146-147 has a small corner of page torn off, with Rev. Edw. Waylen's name written in ink at the top of the page; pages 249-252 have small holes (perhaps caused by pipe ashes) affecting a handful of words; p. 275 closed tear of 2" inches; most of the other flaws are scattered examples of discoloration or browning. We know that from July 3rd, 1798 Brown read portions to his friends Dunlap, Smith, and Johnson, they commented on it and corrected some proofs for him (Dunlap, I, 317; Smith, Memoirs, II, 348). Smith notes on July 25 that the greater part had gone to the printer. The first edition is textually invariant, by half-sheet imposition, probably work-and-turn, a method which decreased the lag-time between composition and presswork, which served especially well when copy was delivered sporadically and which the Swords' apparently followed (see Dunlap, esp., I, 321-323). We know that the preliminaries were typeset on September 3 (perhaps when Brown delivered copy). The last pages were printed beginning on September 4. The provenance of this copy can be traced back to the aforementioned Dr. Edward Waylen whose name appears in ink at the top of page 146.. Then, A. Edward Newton and finally Dr. Neil K. Fitzgerald who was a descendent of Brown (though he acquired it later) and it became the basis for his Ph. D. Thesis at Brown University entitled: "Wieland's Crime; a Source and Analogue of the Foremost Novel of the Father of American Literature" (1980). The publishers T & J Swords were prolific but generally careful as Pinard calls them "the neatest and most correct printers on the continent", p. 355. Fitzgerald said that the Free Library of Philadelphia examined this copy but noted the absence of the advertisement without further comment. Brown tended to be eager to get a copy to the publisher so probably did read the proof copy on September 4. Eight days later the book with "copy-right secured" appeared. There was no second impression since the type was distributed after the sheets were completed as was customary in the Swords' small shop. Probably between 750 and 1000 copies were printed. This copy was bound by the London printers Root & Son in three-quarter red morocco over marbled paper cover boards, raised bands, lettered and decorated in gilt, rebacked with old spine laid down. Marbled endpapers.