UNDER THE LILACS.
Edition: First edition, first issue.
Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1878. Hardcover first edition - Sequel to "Eight Cousins." A story of a boy who performs in the circus with his pet poodle, Sancho, what happens to them after they run away from the circus (because he wants to live a 'respectable life') and are found hiding 'under the lilacs.' Has the first printing point of "Little Men on the title page without the final quotation mark. Illustrated with a frontispiece (with tissue guard) and three inserted plates opposite page 3, page 260 and page 279, plus a small vignette on the title page. An appealing small volume, just 6 5/8 inches tall. 305 pp plus 6 pp of advertisements for "Louisa M. Alcott's Famous Books": each a full page with a large illustration depicting a scene from Little Women, Eight Cousins, and so on.
Condition: Fair condition only in original dark green cloth with a flowering branch against a black rectangle on front cover, gilt lettering on front and spine decorated with bright gilt stamped decoration and lettering (significant spine slant, front hinge cracked and rear blank page partially detached, the rear pastedown was improperly glued - - probably a binding error - and a few fascicles are pulled slightly so the edge of the textblock is a bit uneven and some scattered small foxing spots). Still these inexpensively produced juvenile books are rarely found without faults and this copy has bright gilt, clean contents, sharp corners, minimal shelfwear and is overall a reasonable copy of a quite uncommon first edition.