Item #19005 God's Breath In Man and in Humane Society. Thomas Lake HARRIS, Inscribed.
God's Breath In Man and in Humane Society.
God's Breath In Man and in Humane Society.
God's Breath In Man and in Humane Society.

God's Breath In Man and in Humane Society.

Santa Rosa, California: Privately printed, 1891. First edition, deluxe. Hardcover. Octavo. 314pp + (ii) pp catalogue of other works by Thomas Lake Harris. Dark blue cloth lettered in gilt. There were three issues of the first edition of this title, this being the "Deluxe" edition with top edge gilt and tipped in albumin frontisportrait of the author; beneath which is written IN FACSIMILE in the author's shaky hand "Faithfully yours, Thomas Lake Harris." This copy is however INSCRIBED by the author on front free end paper "To Mrs. Cathcart of Pitcairlie with the compliments of the Author." Thomas Lake Harris (1823-1906), was a mystic, spiritualist, medium, and poet, whose espousal of 'free love' caused considerable controversy in his lifetime. He was the founder of the Utopian Fountaingrove community at Santa Rosa, California, which he rebuilt from an earlier colony in New York. The first US edition of this book was published by Harris at his Fountaingrove Community, in 1891, first UK edition was published by E. W. Allen for the English chapter of Harris' "Brotherhood of the New Life" in the following year. Cloth unevenly faded on rear cover, lightly bumped at corners, Endpapers and prelims uniformly darkened and there is what appears to be a mid-twentieth century bookplate which has had the owner's name obliterated on the recto of the second blank. This same blank has a tiny, match-head size hole, and a quarter inch tear in the margin. Otherwise it is a tight, clean, VG+ copy, virtually free of foxing or other blemishes.Overall quite bright and fresh with the gilt-work still clear. Item #19005

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