WARD, Austin N. (pseud.) [MALE LIFE AMONG THE MORMONS; or, the Husband in Utah: Detailing Sights and Scenes Among the Mormons; With Remarks on Their Moral and Social Economy. By Austin N. Ward. Edited by Maria Ward. . . . in Swedish] MANNEN BLAND MORMONERNA, Eller Tilldragelser i Utah, af Åsynavittnen Intygade. Jemte iakttagelser angående Mormonernas moraliska och sociala lif, af Austin och Maria N. Ward, Förf. till »Qvinnan bland Mormonenrna». Öfversattning från Engelskan. Stockholm: Expeditionen af Konversations-Lexikon hos Schück & Josephson, [Stockholm. Tryckt Hos G. M. Thimgren. 1857.]
17.8 cm. 306, [5] pages, collated complete. Original illustrated front wrapper (only) laid back down over modern plain blue archival wrappers. Internally very good and clean. Light blue oval stamp in a blank area of the title page (relatively unobtrusive) and two somewhat larger oval stamps, pp. [3] and blank verso of final leaf.
$750
Obtained directly from a private party in Sweden who indicated that he purchased the volume some twenty years ago at an antiquarian bookstore ". . . in the Old town in Stockholm for 28 crowns (3,5 USD)." The book arrived in a defective, later nineteenth-century binding which had been added for some early owner and which did it no justice. Inside, however, was the illustrated front wrapper which may have come from a partial installment of the book (see Flake note below). I therefore decided to have the worn and inappropriate hard binding removed and the illustrated wrapper placed on the front of the book, over plain archival paper.
FLAKE 9560 (only edition in Swedish), locating four copies (Princeton, Utah Hist. Soc., BYU and the LDS Church in Salt Lake City) and noting: "Also issued in parts in green printed wrappers." Flake locates the one example in parts with wrappers at BYU.
OBVIOUSLY VERY RARE, this delightful volume's wrapper seen here features a marvelous woodcut engraving which I will guess was made specifically for this edition. This is the sort of ephemeral survival which excites seasoned collectors who have otherwise "seen it all" ! While somewhat ragged, the wrapper is now archivally preserved and very stable, and will survive easily. The text is pleasantly clean and quite presentable throughout.