Attractive booklet of The Symbol and the Saint; A Christmas Tale, apparently an offprint prepared for the author, 10 pages, 5.5 x 7, hole-punched and bound on the right with pink ribbon, signed and inscribed on the front cover in black ink, “With much love to Mrs. Irving Way, Eugene Field, August 22, 1895,” with Field striking through his original dedication. In fine condition, with a light strip of toning to the left edge. A scarce example signed a few months before Field's untimely death at the age of 45. Mrs. Way, the wife of Field's friend and fellow book collector W. Irving Way, did illuminations and illustrations for several of Field's books. The Symbol and the Saint, a fable that explains the origin of Santa Claus, is dated 1886 and was first published in A Little Book of Profitable Tales in 1889.
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