CARNEGIE, Andrew (1835-1919)

An American Four-In-Hand in Britain

London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1883. 8vo. (8 7/8 x 5 3/4 inches). viii, 338 pp,, (1). Frontispiece portrait of the author.

3/4 brown morocco; raised bands, gilt decoration, gilt title, marble boards, with a cloth slipcase.

First edition in a deluxe binding

An account of Carnegie journey to Victorian Britain in 1881. The frontispiece 'artotype' by E. Bierstadt shows Carnegie on a horse-drawn coach, the 'four-in-hand' referenced in the title. Interestingly, the work was not designed to be a publishing success, but rather a sort of greeting card to those who had not accompanied him on the trip, and a souvenir gift for those who had. Carnegie's talents as a writer come out in this Gilded Age classic, as one commentator put it in 1901: "In looking over Mr. Carnegie's writings one cannot fail to be struck by the terseness, felicity, and 'pith' of many of his phrases. It is not the studied elegance of the stylist, but the epigrammatic expression of a vigorous personality."

Item #40783

Price: $600.00