James Branch Cabell : An Illustrated Bibliography
FROM THE HIDDEN WAY: Being Seventy-Five Adaptations in Verse
Hall Code |
Description |
*FHW-A1e (K) |
First Printing, Sixth State 1916 [1921] |
COMPILATION
Full Title:
Title page recto: FROM THE | HIDDEN WAY | BEING SEVENTY-FIVE | ADAPTATIONS IN VERSE | BY | JAMES BRANCH CABELL | [double rule] | [in italic] "Tell me now in what hidden way | is Lady Flora, the lovely Roman? | Where's Hipparchia? Where is Thais?" | [double rule] | NEW YORK | ROBERT M. McBRIDE & CO. | 1916 (see image above).
Title page verso: Copyright, 1916, | BY ROBERT M. McBRIDE & CO. (see image above).
Publication:
New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1916 (1921 according to Guy Holt).
Collation:
Crown octavo [19.7 cm. (7 ¾ in.) x 13.3 cm. (5 ¼ in.)]; pp. x + 190; (i) blank; (ii) Books by Mr. Cabell; (1) title page; (2) publication data; (3) dedication (verso blank); (5-8) Contents; 9-187 text; (188-190) blank; pp. (9), (19), (59), (91), (117), and (151) are fly-titles; pp. (10), (18), (20), (60), (92), (118), and (152) are blank.
Binding:
Red-brown cloth; gilt lettering and decorations; top edge trimmed, others untrimmed. Spine: FROM | THE | HIDDEN | WAY | [rule] | CABELL | McBRIDE. Front cover: [Kalki device in lower right corner] (see image above).
Dedication:
TO | BEVERLY BLAND MUNFORD | (31 May 1910) | dedicatory sonnet (see image above).
Dust jacket:
Spine: FROM | THE | HIDDEN | WAY | [rule] | CABELL | [paste-on white label printed in red] $2.00 | McBRIDE.
Front Panel: FROM THE | HIDDEN | WAY | A book of verse | [in italic] by | JAMES | BRANCH | CABELL | [paste-on white label printed in red] $2.00 | [in italic] (For description of this book see flap of this jacket)
Rear Panel: "The Rivet in | Grandfather's Neck" | FINDS FAVOR WITH THE CRITICS | [rule] | [five reviews of The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck, separated by rules] | [rule} ROBERT M. McBRIDE & CO. | PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
Front Flap: [all enclosed in a single ruled box] From the | Hidden | Way | By | James Branch Cabell | [26 line blurb] | [rule] [in italic] [original $1.25 price has been marked through] net
Rear Flap: [all enclosed in a single ruled box] The | Certain | Hour | By | James Branch Cabell | [31 line blurb] | [rule] [in italic] [original $1.35 price has been marked through] net
This is an example of the second state of the dust jacket. The original price of $1.25 has been covered with stickers marked $2.00 on the cover and spine, and the prices for The Certain Hour and From the Hidden Way on the flaps have been marked out (see images above). The jacket fits the shorter FHW-A1d binding (which is the same height as the first binding state, FHW-A1), but is noticeably too short for this taller FHW-A1e binding.
Notes:
Although Hall lists only one binding state in the Kalki binding, we have observed two variations of the Kalki binding for this title. The first version, FHW-A1d, is shorter than the second, *FHW-A1e, by 1/8-inch. (see comparision image above). They are also bound in different types of cloth: FHW-A1d is in FL cloth, while *FHW-A1e is in B cloth. B cloth is the type most commonly used for Kalki bindings, while FL was used for a binding variant of the 1st printing of Jurgen, *Jur-A1b; for the 3rd printing, Jur-A3 (K); and for a few other early Kalkis. See the Notes at the bottom of the page for *Jur-A1b for a more detailed discussion of these cloth variations.
Previous bibliographers were unanimous in stating that there were 100 copies issued in the Kalki binding, but based on current evidence it seems clear that the Kalki copies were issued in at least two different batches.
