HARRIS, Miriam Coles

An Utter Failure [Signed/Inscribed by Author]

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1891. First Edition. Octavo (18cm); brown cloth, stamped in dark brown and gilt; 334pp. Spine cocked, with creasing towards crown; boards scuffed, with rubbing to extremities and hinges; corners bumped. Author's signature and inscription on ffep; bindings shaken, some signatures pulled w/ exposed strings. Else text clean and complete, a Very Good copy.

One remarkable aspect of author Miriam Coles Harris is, ironically, her anonymity. She is proudly listed on the cover of this book as "Author of Rutledge", a popular Gothic novel. Rutledge (1860) was unattributed when first published, but Miriam Coles Harris's attempt to avoid the spotlight only resulted in a storm of publicity when multiple women came forward to claim authorship. The cat was out of the bag by 1891, when Harris wrote An Utter Failure. As the title suggests, this is a downer of a tale about a young lady who takes a trip to Italy, marries a wealthy but loveless count, and generally ruins her life (as you do).

Price: $45.00

Go Back