LOVERS' SAINT RUTH'S and Three Other Tales, by LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY.

BOSTON: Copland & Day, 1895. First edition.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED on the front pastedown by the author to "SKIFF" (likely Frederick W. Skiff, noted book collector). Inscribed as follows:

"Mr. SKIFF : Dear Sir : / The author disclaims, condemns and excommunicates this good-for-nothing output. Not one story of the four holds water, as a story; and each is full of silly aberrations and improbabilities! Ne Autor ultra crepidam. / L. I. G. (signed with initials) / A.D. 1904".

If anyone out there thinks the author was proud of this book her inscription should clear that up!

Hardcovers, decorated cloth covered boards, 5x7.5 inches, 123 pages.

GOOD Condition: The covers' spine is sunned and the spine titles have faded, the front and rear boards are sunned and a bit soiled, and the corner tips are worn, nonetheless the covers are solid, their decorated boards attractive, and they are doing their job well, Internally nice, many of the pages remain uncut, the text block is cracked at a number of places but is holding well with the sewn binding. A solid, presentable copy.

SCARCE with the unusual, self-deprecating inscription to the noted book collector Skiff.

About LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY (from Wikipedia):

******Louise Imogen Guiney, b.1861 d.1920, was an American poet, essayist and editor, born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. She worked at various jobs, including serving as a postmistress and working in the field of cataloging at the Boston Public Library. She was a member of several literary and social clubs, and according to her friend Ralph Adams Cram was "the most vital and creative personal influence" on their circle of writers and artists in Boston. While in Boston she was believed to be in a "Boston Marriage" (the cohabitation of women, sexual or not) with the author Alice Brown, b.1857 d.1948.

In 1901, Guiney moved to Oxford, England, to focus on her poetry and essay writing. Soon after she began to suffer from illness and in 1920 died of a stroke near Gloucestershire, England, age 59. Much of her work was left unfinished. After Guiney died the noted historian and novelist Eva Tenison became enchanted with her works and in 1921 published "Louise Imogen Guiney; an Appreciation", and in 1923 published "Louise Imogen Guiney: Her Life and Works 1861-1920" and "A Bibliography of Louise Imogen Guiney 1861-1920". Tenison also published "The Recusant Poets: An Unpublished Work of Louise Imogen Guiney and Fr. Geoffrey Bliss, S.J."******

About FREDERICK WOODWARD SKIFF:

******Frederick Woodward Skiff, b.1867 d.1947, was an author, noted collector, bibliophile, expert on Americana and American Literature, and founder of the Acorn Club. Over the course of his life, Skiff amassed one of the most important private libraries in the United States, with particular emphasis on literature and history. After his death in 1947, the library's contents were sold at auction by Butterfield & Butterfield (now Bonham's) in San Francisco. Many of the books made their ways into other important collections. Countess Doheny purchased 800 books from Skiff's library, becoming part of the Estelle Doheny Collection of American Literature, which was in turn auctioned off by Christie's New York in 2001.******