DOROTHY'S DOUBLE was published in what is considered to be the final year -- 1894 -- of the three-decker format. For years, English novels had been published in three volumes, priced well above most people's means, and sold at half-price to circulating libraries from which each volume was rented out separately. By 1894 people wanted to buy books, and authors wanted to write more concise tales, so most novels were first appearing in just one volume. In the years leading up to 1894, publishers adorned their three-deckers in elaborate bindings in an effort to woo buyers; however, by 1894, the binding (as here) is quite plain, and the price to the public was dropped to less than half the "standard" price (15s compared to 31s 6d) -- as the publisher tried to stave off the demise of the three-decker by wooing customers not with decoration but with price.

This is a very good set: the front covers are somewhat rubbed (especially toward the top, indicating that these volumes probably did once have circulating library labels there), and the original patterned endpapers are reinforced at the gutter with matching paper. The scarcity of DOROTHY'S DOUBLE cannot be overemphasized: of the 400 original copies, there are only four or five known to be residing in private collections today. Newbolt 61.3.