Joseph II and His Court. An Historical Novel
Mobile, Alabama: S.H. Goetzel, 1864. Four volumes bound in one, measuring 7.25 x 5.25 inches: 240; 240; 139, [1]; 152 . Contemporary three-quarter red calf, marbled paper boards, recornered and rebacked with remnants of original spine laid down, spine ruled and titled in gilt, grey endpapers. Original front wrappers of all four volumes bound in, each printed on verso of a sheet of color-printed wallpaper. Autograph note pasted to wrapper of Volume I: “Specimen of Confederate Printing;” early ink ownership signature to title page of Volume I. Shelfwear to binding, boards rubbed, light scattered foxing.
Confederate imprint of Joseph II and His Court by prolific German novelist Klara Mundt (1814-1873), who published nearly one hundred historical romances under the pen name Luise Mühlbach. First published in Berlin in 1857, her fictionalized account of the Holy Roman Emperor’s private life was an international bestseller. This 1864 edition, issued in Alabama, marked the first American appearance of the novel. The publisher, Sigismund Heinrich Goetzel, was an Austrian immigrant who settled in Mobile in the 1850s, opening a bookshop and establishing a publishing house there. Goetzel continued to issue new titles throughout the American Civil War, Confederate editions of Charles Dickens and George Eliot among them. “Of most interest to collectors are those volumes clad in wallpaper covers (plain side out, presenting decorative endpapers upon opening), necessitated by supply shortages during the Civil War. Goetzel himself, though scoring high marks for innovation, was embarrassed to have to resort to such means.” Rebound at an early date, this copy of Joseph II and His Court includes Goetzel’s original wallpaper wrappers at the head of all four volumes. Parrish & Willingham 6437. See John Sledge, “Southern Bound: Mobile Publisher Left Profound Legacy,” 2010. A very good copy, much sounder than usually found, reflecting the exigencies of wartime book production in the American South.
Price: $1,500.00