“The Count of Monte Cristo,” Alexandre Dumas, c.1920s

Antique, color-illustrated The Count of Monte Cristo. Dodd, Mead & Company, New York (c.1928). Illustrated by Mead Schaeffer. 472 pages. Black cover with tipped-in cover art and gilt lettering and decoration. Green monochrome pictorial pastedowns depicting Château d’If, red top edge, deckled foredge. Seven color illustration plates.

Dumas (1902-1870), was a French novelist (also authored The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask) and dramatist of mixed-race ancestry. The Count of Monte Cristo, a swashbuckling adventure, romance, revenge novel, alludes to Dumas’ father, Thomas Dumas. Thomas was the son of a French nobleman and an enslaved African. He served as General for and ultimately was betrayed by, Napolean.

The cover motif–in black, crimson, and gold–and Mead Schaeffer’s depiction of Edmond Dantes is chillingly apropos. And further enhanced by the red top edge and desolate-looking envy-green monochrome pastedowns. Schaeffer was a prolific and respected illustrator who also drew for this publisher on Moby Dick and Les Misérables.

The book is in very good antique condition. Name scripted in thin ink on the front pastedown, Douglas Griffiths, Dec. 8, 1934. The binding is somewhat shaken but holds fast, less a partial separation of the title page. Approximately 1-inch or smaller tears on pages 198, 235, 381; and some smudges on a few pages. Tanning from a bookmark on pages 1 and 146-151. Occasional small, penciled “x” in margins. Otherwise, free of writing. No dust jacket. Overall, an exciting and haunting edition to display.

dimensions (cm): ~24.5 x 18.5 x 4.25; 39.4oz (2.5lbs)

scarcity rating: 2+

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