GODWIN, William - St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century

Alexandria [VA], J. & J. D. Westcott for J. V. Thomas, 1801. First American Edition. Hardcover. First published in England in 1799, this First American Edition is much scarcer. Two duodecimo volumes in 4s (3-3/4" x 5-7/8") bound in contemporary calf leather with gilt rules on the spines and burgundy morocco spine labels; [4], vi, 286; [2], 269, [1] pages with the error in paging in the first volume, page 47 misnumbered 57. Shaw & Shoemaker 577. This early Gothic novel takes place during the Protestant Reformation and tells the tale of a penurious noble who finds the philosopher's stone and an elixir of immortality. It was a source for a somewhat better known novel, FRANKENSTEIN, by Godwin's daughter, Mary Shelley, who dedicated that book to her father. An early owner, Joseph H. Wingate, has written his name twice in each volume, dated 1809. There is also a faint, early ink stamp for J. W. Sewall on the front endpaper of each volume. Closed tear to first volume title page with no loss; text fairly clean. The boards of the second volume are split and holding by the cords. Overall Very Good Godwin's THINGS AS THEY ARE is regarded by some as the first modern novel. Godwin, "the philosophical representative of English radicalism" (DNB), also had the distinct honor of reading Thomas Paine's RIGHTS OF MAN in manuscript.

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