8vo. Title-page printed in black and red. (Some minor spotting or staining.) Original pictorial green cloth stamped in dark green and red, top edge gilt (darkened and soiled, rebacked preserving original spine and endpapers, front hinge detached). Provenance: Wilson's Library (stamp on title-page).

FIRST EDITION of Chopin's novel, whose frank and sexual themes drew condemnation from contemporary reviewers. In light of these reviews, the publisher declined subsequent printings of the work, which is now regarded not only as a major early feminist work but also as a precursor to American modernist literature. BAL 3246.