In the middle piece, “The Portraits,” an old thwarted love affair between two (now elderly) people is reprised by their grandchildren and finally consummated — with supernatural help effected through the mysterious mechanism of two portraits on either side of the Atlantic
Mitchell, J. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1896. First edition. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [i-vi] vii-viii [1-2] 3-177 [178-180: blank]. Original green pictorial cloth, front panel stamped in ivory and gold, spine panel stamped in gold, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Illustrated with twenty inserted plates by C. D, Gibson, A. B. Frost, F. T. Richards, and J. A. Mitchell. First edition, first printing with half title reading “That First Affair” and “University Press” imprint on copyright page. Old dated ink ownership signature on front free endpaper. Small faint damp stain to rear cover, rubbing to cloth at edges, a very good copy overall. #1914. $100. The title story provides a decidedly un-Biblical and revisionary telling of the story of Adam and Eve, artfully blending irony and pathos, and sidestepping pitfalls that would have ruined most writers. “Mrs. İncele
