THE FOUR MILLION, by O. HENRY (pseudonym of William Sydney Porter). Includes the first book appearance of GIFT OF THE MAGI.

NEW YORK: McClure, Phillips & Co., MCMVI (1906). First edition, first printing, will all points present, MCMVI on the title page, "Published April, 1906" on copyright page, no indication of additional printings, and "lony" (misspelling of "long") in the prefatory notice (facing the copyright page).

Hardcovers, dark red cloth covered boards, gilt titling to the front cover and spine, blind stamped framing to the front cover, 5x7.25 inches (13x18.5 cm), 261 pages.

First edition, first state, of O. Henry's second published book, in bright gilt-stamped original cloth.

The Four Million contains some of Henry's most famous stories, including most notably the first printing in book form of THE GIFT OF THE MAGI.

GOOD condition, the covers have light wear to the spine ends and corner tips, some sunning / fading to the spine, and a bb-size scrape to the front panel; internally, the pages are lightly age toned as is normal, the front inner hinge is cracked but holding well, the rear inner hinge is split, scraped, and lacking some of the hinge paper covering but also holding well, the top edge of the title page has a closed tear and some associated creasing, the text block is cracked at a couple places where the book was over-opened but is still well bound with the stitched binding, there is a small oval bookstore sticker to the bottom of the front free endpaper (the famous but long gone "Old Corner Book Store / Boston"), a previous owner's signature and date (1912) also on the front free endpaper, otherwise the pages are tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A solid, presentable copy.

About O. Henry (extracted from Wikipedia):

******William Sydney Porter, b.1862 d.1910, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known for his naturalist observations, witty narration, and surprise endings. Porter's early career was as a bank clerk and part time short story writer. His banking career ended suddenly when he was convicted and imprisoned for embezzlement. In prison he started writing short stories under the pseudonym O. Henry. He was released in 1901 after serving three years. Porter continued writing under the name O. Henry, and the rest, as they say, is history.******