THE JACKET (The Star Rover).
London: Mills & Boon, (1915). First UK edition. Hardcover. Contemporary binding by (or for) W. H. Smith in blue linen-grain cloth with title and WHS monogram stamped in black; 333 pp. + 2 page advertisement and 32-page catalog; color frontispiece. Short tear at top of front free endpaper, else fine. Near fine. Item #21189
True first edition of this title, with 1915 date on copyright page and 34 pages of advertisements at rear. UK edition precedes the US edition by nearly 3 months. In his "Call of the Atlantic: Jack London's Publishing Oxyssey Overseas, 1902-1916" (Oxford Univerity Press, 2016) author Joseph McAleer notes that "Most first edition sales in England were not directly to the public but to large circulating libraries like Mudies and W. H. Smith. (p. 4). Later noting that W. H. Smith ranked London as ". . . one of its top-selling authors." (p. 156). It is likely that W. H. Smith replaced the shoddy Mills & Boon binding a more durable and attractive one of their own. This copy apparently never circulated. BAL 11962; Sisson & Martens p. 82.
Price: $400.00