Strong Drink: The Curse and the Cure, by T.S. Arthur - 1877
Strong Drink; The Curse and the Cure
T. S. Arthur
c. 1877 early trade edition
Bright blue publisher’s cloth with gilt spine (frontispiece portrait + tissue guard)
Overview
Offered here is an attractive late-19th-century edition of Strong Drink; The Curse and the Cure by T. S. Arthur, one of the most widely read moral-reform authors of the American temperance era. Arthur was already famous for Ten Nights in a Bar-Room (1854), and Strong Drink continues that mission—using story and moral argument to depict alcohol’s ruin and the possibility of restoration through conscience, faith, and reform.
This copy stands out immediately on the shelf in bright blue cloth with elaborate black stamped decoration and gilt spine title, and retains the illustrated frontispiece portrait of the author with its tissue guard intact.
About the Book
First issued in 1877, Strong Drink blends narrative storytelling with the social-reform concerns of its time. Like much temperance literature, it is aimed at both warning and persuasion—showing the consequences of alcohol on home, character, and community while insisting that change is possible.
For collectors of recovery-adjacent history, temperance material like this offers a valuable contrast to later 20th-century recovery writing: the earlier century’s emphasis on moral reform and social pressure, preserved in period language and book design.
Edition / Publication Details
Title: Strong Drink; The Curse and the Cure
Author: T. S. Arthur
Date: c. 1877 (entered according to Act of Congress)
Publisher(s): Hubbard Brothers (Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, Springfield, Mass.); also listed: N. D. Thompson & Co. (St. Louis); A. L. Bancroft & Co. (San Francisco)
Format: Hardcover (publisher’s cloth; no dust jacket as issued)
Features: Frontispiece portrait of T. S. Arthur with tissue guard; publisher’s preface; patterned endpapers
Provenance
Bookplate present on the front pastedown: “A. J. Plank’s Library.” A nice period ownership detail that fits the era and adds character without distracting from the text.
Condition
Very Good for a book of this age. Bright blue cloth with ornate black stamping; light rubbing at edges/corners. Small abrasion to spine cloth; light fraying at spine ends. Spine gilt remains bright and legible. Frontispiece portrait present with tissue guard intact. Pages evenly toned with expected age browning; occasional light foxing; text clean and readable. Binding tight and sound; hinges secure.
Please review all photos carefully for the most accurate representation of condition.
Collector Notes
Strong Drink remains a cornerstone title in 19th-century American temperance literature, and copies that still present this well—vivid cloth, strong gilt, intact frontispiece/tissue—are increasingly hard to find. A strong, displayable example for collectors of temperance, reform history, and the long prehistory of American sobriety culture.
