COLLINS, Wilkie

The Moonstone. A Romance

London: Tinsley Brothers, 1868. First Edition. three Volumes. Octavo. 18.5cm. Bound in a 19th century tan roan binding over marbled boards, titled and ruled in gilt to spines. [viii]; 315pp.; 297pp.; 309pp. Some sunning to spines, scuffing and light rubbing to corners and spine ends, hinges strong, gilt bright, just general shelfwear; internally clean and fresh, plain endpapers with some oxidization, old ink ownership to front flyleaves, bookplate of Emory University Library to front pastedowns, and a pencil catalog note to verso title page, half-titles lacking in all volumes, page edges speckled red, a little spotting and soiling in places, some scruffy stitching to the gutter of p.297 in Vol II. A very good, respectable and attractive, first edition set in a solid binding.

Not the first detective novel, not the first police procedural, and not the first time a British upper class family has been generationally cursed for the pillaging and theft of a holy relic from a distant and exotic land - for most people that is referred to as "looting", but for the average 19th century Brit at large with a musket and a daily alcohol allowance, that was just called "Tuesday".
"The Moonstone" has claims to be a common ancestor of the modern police detective novel with its solid, methodical rose-fixated Sergeant Cuff and it's (for the time) meticulously plotted distribution of clues and hunches, although at the time of publication some audiences found the criminal investigation aspect to be somewhat sordid and low-brow; and doubtless set the tone and a lot of the genre ground rules for subsequent development. A fair portion of the detail was inspired by true crime cases like the Constance Kent affair (investigated by Jack Whicher, a detective who laid quite a few ground rules himself), and the novel was serialized in Dickens' "All The Year Round" magazine (the title which currently tenuously holds the title of earliest detective mystery; "The Notting Hill Mystery" was originally printed anonymously in the popular periodical "Once A Week" in 1862-63) before being pubished as a triple decker by Tinsley. It's something of a stand-out Victorian novel, not merely for its appearance during the birth of an entirely new popular literary genre (probably the third most widely read genre of all time), but also because it turns a cold eye on British colonizer excesses, depicts its three Brahmin antagonists (essentially just seeking the return of their giant yellow diamond) respectfully and with dignity, especially for a tale told barely a decade after what Victorian Britain referred to as "The Indian Mutiny" in 1857 during which period it was almost de rigeur to depict Indians in a brutal, depraved, and contemptuous manner. Similarly, Colonel Herncastle, the looter of Seringapatam, who brought all this death and fear to Wiltshire, is depicted as being a man with almost no redeeming qualities. Critics at the time made note of Collins meticulous plotting, (although Dickens disparaged it, and Collins himself, anxious and high as a kite on laudanum, found it laborious), and Chekovian foreshadowing. An impressive keystone in the crazy paving of 19th century literary development. "The Moonstone" was met with considerable popular acclaim, and the first run of 1500 copies sold in its entirety.

Price: $5,750.00

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