Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, and What I Saw There by T. S. Arthur

Book Details

• Title: Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, and What I Saw There
• Author: T. S. Arthur
• Signed: No
• Publisher: Porter & Coates, Philadelphia
• Edition: Re-issue edition (originally 1854; this issue re-issued 1882)
• Printing: Undetermined (late 19th-century Porter & Coates reprint)
• Publication Year: 1882 (copyright renewal stated)
• Binding: Publisher’s decorative cloth with silver-stamped titles & floral vignette
• Dust Jacket Condition: N/A (as issued)
• Condition: Fair to Good — cloth boards rubbed and faded; spine darkened with fray at crown/foot; hinges cracked with some separation; pages evenly toned; text block complete; no writing observed.
• Illustrator/Editor/Preface: With engraved frontispiece/illustrations (as issued)
• Rarity / Collectibility: Cornerstone temperance novel—hugely influential in 19th-century reform literature; widely adapted for stage and film.

Description

First published in 1854, Ten Nights in a Bar-Room became one of the most widely read American temperance novels, dramatizing the social and family consequences of alcohol through a sequence of “ten nights” in a small-town tavern. This Porter & Coates 1882 re-issue continued the work’s long life in print and its influence on public opinion, church readings, and reform meetings. For collectors of temperance and recovery-related history, Arthur’s moral narrative remains a keystone text—second only to the era’s most popular social novels in reach and impact.

Condition Notes

• Decorative publisher’s cloth with silver-stamped titles and floral design.
• Boards rubbed with spots and fade; corners worn.
• Spine darkened; fraying to head and tail.
• Front and rear hinges cracked with separation visible; binding still holding and pages complete.
• Text uniformly toned with age; no significant writing observed.

Please review all photos for exact condition of boards, spine, hinges, and interiors.