A SEARCH FOR A SECRET.
London: Gall and Inglis, n.d. [1911]. Original green cloth with pictorial spine, with front cover illustration onlay.
Second (and first one-volume) Edition of Henty's first book. Agnes Ashleigh is unexpectedly bequeathed a fortune -- but the two sisters of her benefactor have other ideas... A SEARCH FOR A SECRET was initially published by Tinsley in 1867 as a three-decker -- consisting of probably no more than 300 or 400 copies; that edition is now extremely scarce, one of the toughest of all Henty first editions to find. This one-volume edition did not appear until 44 years later, after Henty's death. This copy is in green cloth, as opposed to the red copy cited by Newbolt (we have also had blue); in this copy there is gilt on the top edge only (some have all edges gilt).
This is a bright, near-fine copy (endpapers cracked, 1915 Sunday School attendance prize bookplate) -- of a title we do not see very often. Newbolt 1.2. Item #12651
Price: $425.00