Tall 8vo (235 x 147 mm). Blank leaf at end. (Some spotting.) Original blue printed wrappers (some minor losses to spine ends and one corner, a few repairs to spine, some soiling); red quarter morocco slipcase.

FIRST SEPARATE EDITION OF SHAW'S FIRST SEPARATELY-PUBLISHED WORK. Laurence's smaller variant issue, with the blank at the end: "the size of bigger copies is due to the fact that they reproduced not only the type but the format of To-day. But the booksellers objected that in this form it occupied too much room to be displayed on their stalls and counters. It was probably cut down as far as the margins would allow to meet his objection" (Laurence, quoting Shaw).  Cashel Byron's Profession first appeared in the periodical To-Day, and by the end of 1886, two U.S. pirated editions of the work had already been printed. Laurence A3a.