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THBThe Works of Kate Wiggin, Autograph Edition 1917 (10 Vols)
About Seller
522 South Pineapple Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34236
United States
Sarasota Estate Auction specializes in a wide variety of furniture, antiques, fine art, lighting, sculptures, and collectibles. Andrew Ford, owner and operator of the company, has a passion for finding the best pieces of art and antiques and sharing those finds with the Gulf Coast of Florida.
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About Auction
LiveMar 30, 2025
Over 900 lots will be offered in day 2 of our 2 day auction weekend! There are multiple lots of important fine art from landscapes and etchings to old masters and portraits. We have a Lifetime Collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany, Lalique, and Steuben Glass, Antique Maps, Oriental Rugs, Sterling Silver, Imperial Embroidered Chinese Robes, Rare Books, Old Master Paintings, and more! Sarasota Estate Auction sarasotaestateauction@gmail.com
View Full Catalog (951)
- Lot Description
This set is comprised of nine volumes of the Autograph Edition of the works of Kate Douglas Wiggin, all published by Houghton Mifflin in 1917 and inscribed by her in the first volume on the page showing her study at Quillcote, her summer home in Hollis, Maine, and another volume that was published in 1923.
Size: 8 3/4 x 6 in.
The first book in the set is titled The Birds’ Christmas Carol, and it includes The Story of Patsy, Timothy’s Quest and Other Stories, and the copyright page says the edition is limited to five hundred copies, of which this is number 90. The page which says “Autograph Edition” at the front and features the Study at Quillcote is also inscribed and signed by her, and the inscription reads “And Carol lives again in every chime of Christmas bells that peal glad tidings, Yours Sincerely Kate Douglass Wiggin”.
All the books are 3/4 bound in green morocco, with five raised bands, gilt lettering and a gilt weathervane device on the spine, marbled endpapers, two colored frontis pages after the half title (the frontis pages have tissue guards), then an illustrated title page in color, the copyright page is dated 1917 and the limitation information is at the bottom of the copyright page - all the books are number 90 of the 500 sets - then one to three pages of Contents, depending on the volume, then a two-page List of Illustrations, the number of text pages can vary, the illustrations are in color and monotone, and all the top edges are gilt.
The first volume also has a chapter titled A Child’s Journey with Dickens (pages 291 - 307) and it describes a train ride Kate enjoyed with Charles Dickens. Her mother and a relative had gone ahead to hear Dickens read in Portland, Maine, but Kate, aged 11, was thought to be too young to warrant an expensive ticket. The following day, she found herself on the same train as Dickens and engaged him in a lively conversation for the course of the journey, an experience which she never forgot and detailed in a short memoir titled A Child's Journey with Dickens, and that journey where she met Dickens is captured here.
Volume Two is titled The Summer In a Canon and Polly Oliver’s Problem, 425 pages of text.
Volume Three is titled Penelope’s English Experiences and Penelope’s Scottish Experiences with 429 pages of text. Volume Four is missing. Volume Five is titled The Village Watch Tower and Marm Lisa, with 367 pages of text. Volume Six is Rebecca [Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm] with 342 pages of text. Volume Seven is New Chronicles of Rebecca, A Cathedral Courtship, and The Diary Of A Goose Girl, and 421 pages long. Volume Eight is titled Rose O’ The River, The Old Peabody Pew, and Susanna And Sue, with 344 pages of text. Volume Nine is Mother Carey’s Chickens and The Romance Of A Christmas Carol, at 413 pages long. Volume Ten is The Story Of Waitstill Baxter, 358 pages long, and the last volume is in brown morocco and titled My Garden Of Memory: An Autobiography, with a frontis photo of Kate Wiggin. It was published by Houghton Mifflin in Boston and New York in 1923, so it’s a first edition - there is just a single date on the title and copyright page and the dates match, with no other printings listed - it has 443 pages of text and a total of 465 pages in the book, including an Appendix and Index at the rear, and it says “11” and “Autograph Edition” on the spine, but there is no set number on the copyright page.
The inscription and signature in Volume One are the real deal here, too. We checked the inscription on the Autograph Edition page in three other numbered sets and the inscriptions were all different in the those sets, and there is offset from the ink on the Autograph Edition page on the page opposite, so the inscription and Kate Wiggin’s signature here are real and not facsimile copies.
For a time, Wiggin lived in a cottage on Salmon Falls Road across from the house that would eventually become her home, then she moved away at the age of 16, and she bought the home in 1905 and renamed it “Quillcote”. She spent some of her childhood in Salmon Falls and after she bought it, it became her summer home until her death in 1923. It is also called the Kate Douglass Wiggin House and is now a register federal landmark.
All the books measure 8 3/4 x 6 inches wide, and overall the set is in very good condition, with tight bindings and clean pages and text. There are some blemishes here and there, with light wear on the edges, light rubbing on some of the covers, bumps on some of the edges, the first volume has brown marks on the bottom of the front endpapers and a tear on page 219, and Volume 8 has a hinge crack at the rear.
We’ve seen single volumes go for $45 to $225 and complete sets go for up to $1600, according to the rare book website we use, and we’ve started the bidding low because the fourth volume is missing. There are only 500 sets of the Autograph Edition ever issued, and a nice chance to get these volumes with Kate Wiggin’s inscription and signature.
#6274
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SHIPPING INFORMATION·
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BIDDER MUST ARRANGE THEIR OWN SHIPPING. Although SEA will NOT arrange shipping for you, we do recommend our preferred shipper Premier Shipping & Crating at info@premiershipment.com You MUST email them, please DO NOT CALLl. If you'd like to compare shipping quotes or need more options, feel free to contact any local Sarasota shippers. You can email any one of the shippers below as well. Be sure to include the lot(s) you won and address you would like it shipped to. Brennan with The UPS Store #0089 - 941-413-5998 - Store0089@theupsstore.com AK with The UPS Store #2689 - 941-954-4575 - Store2689@theupsstore.com Steve with The UPS Store #4074 - 941-358-7022 - Store4074@theupsstore.com Everett with PakMail - 941-751-2070 - paktara266@gmail.com
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- Size
8 3/4 x 6 in
