William E. Burton. Actor, Author, and Manager. A Sketch of His Career with Recollections of his Performances
New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1885. From the Bart Auerbach Collection. 8vo. Frontispiece and plates. Original green cloth, publisher's gilt device on front cover, gilt-lettered on spine, top edges gilt; in a quarter red morocco slipcase. Slight wear at extremities, small hole at gutter of front free endpaper; but a very good to fine copy. Item #409564
First edition. With a 28-page chapter on Burton's immense library, celebrated in its day for its remarkable collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. After Burton's death in 1860, the library with the catalogue entitled 'Bibliotheca Dramatica' was sold at a Joseph Sabin auction. William Loring Andrews in his 'Gossip about Book Collecting' termed it "the first great auction sale of books that occurred in New York City.
The British-born Burton (1804-1860) relocated to the United States in 1834. Living in Philadelphia, he established the 'Gentleman's Magazine', of which Edgar Allan Poe was editor for a time. For the September 1837 issue Burton wrote an early example of the detective story, 'The Secret Cell', detailing a London policeman's efforts to trace an abducted girl and arrest her kidnappers.
Price: $350.00