Mrs. Alderman Casey by Irene Stoddard Capwell (FIRST EDITION), 1905 📜✍️🇮🇪

This is a rare First Edition, First Printing of Mrs. Alderman Casey by Irene Stoddard Capwell, a classic work of American social humor.

The volume is classified as a top-shelf literary artifact and is notable for its illustrations by W. Herbert Dunton, a celebrated artist.

Its value is secured by its verifiable First Printing status in 1905 and a powerful, non-replicable Provenance Premium tied to early ownership in Western Springs, Illinois.

2. About the Artwork/Book/Object 📖✍️✨ The novel is an early 20th-century piece of dialect and social comedy that chronicles the domestic life and ambitious social climb of Mrs. Alderman Casey, an Irish-American woman. The humor is often derived from the clash between Mrs. Casey's working-class background and the expectations of affluent society.

The book is an illustrated edition featuring Drawings by W. Herbert Dunton. The contents page reveals the novel's thematic focus on social integration, with chapters like "Mrs. Casey at the Euchre Party" and "The Rise of the Casey Family". The book is a document of American popular humor and the assimilation experience of immigrant communities in the Progressive Era.

3. About the Artist/Author/Maker ✍️🏛️ Irene Stoddard Capwell was an American writer who successfully tapped into the popular vein of dialect humor at the turn of the 20th century. Her work provided social commentary through the lens of domestic comedy.

The illustrations are by W. Herbert Dunton (1878–1936), an artist who would later achieve fame as a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists and a renowned painter of the American West. This collaboration links the book to an important figure in American art history. The publisher, R. F. Fenno & Company, was a major New York house specializing in popular fiction and reprints.

4. Historical/Political Era Context 🌍🕰️📜 This First Edition was published in 1905, placing it in the heart of the Progressive Era and the peak of European immigration to America. The novel directly reflects the contemporary interest in the assimilation of immigrant groups—in this case, the Irish—into the American social structure.

The inscription, dated February 19th, 1909, ties the book to a collector in Western Springs, Illinois, placing the book geographically within the American Midwest's rapidly industrializing environment. The book functions as a tangible record of the era's social dynamics and the literary genre of dialect humor.

5. The Ideal Collector 💡🧐🏛️ This volume is an essential acquisition for a curator of American Dialect Literature and W. Herbert Dunton Illustration.

It is ideally suited for a collector who specializes in documented First Editions with traceable ownership in the Midwest or West. The book belongs in a collection that prioritizes the intersections of popular fiction and American art history.

6. Value & Rarity 💎✨🏛️ This book is a First Edition, First Printing, a key bibliographical milestone. The volume is approximately 120 years old.

Its rarity is moderate as a popular title, but the value is significantly elevated by its strong Provenance Premium. The handwritten inscription, dated February 19th, 1909, documents the book's early ownership by Florence L. Jones in Illinois. This non-replicable chain of ownership, along with its later links to the Birch collection, commands a premium over a standard copy.

7. Condition 🔎📚✨ The physical condition has been assessed directly from the provided high-resolution photography. The book is deemed to be in Very Good Antique Condition.

• Binding: Bound in original publisher's green cloth with a distinctive Art Nouveau-style cover design .

• Printing: Confirmed as the First Printing.

• Inscription: Contains a clear handwritten ownership inscription dated Feb 19th, 1909.

• Illustrations: Features intact drawings by W. Herbert Dunton, including the frontispiece.

• Wear: The cloth binding shows light rubbing and darkening along the spine and edges; small brown stains are visible on the title page and endpaper.

• Text Block: The text block is secure, with toning appropriate for its age.

8. Fun Facts & Unique Features 🤓📜🤩

• The Illustrative Pedigree: Illustrator W. Herbert Dunton became a famous painter of the American West after this publication, making this an early, traceable work of a key Western artist.

• The Dialect Format: The story is heavily written in the Irish-American vernacular, a form of dialect literature popular at the time for both humor and cultural commentary.

• The "Woman's Club": A chapter is dedicated to "Mrs. Casey at the Woman's Club," highlighting the book's attention to the emerging social role of women in the early 20th century.

• The Interconnected Provenance: The ownership by Florence L. Jones is crucial, as this name appears in other early ownership inscriptions within the collection, confirming a fascinating personal book collecting history in the early 1900s.

9. Supporting Information 🏷️📦💰

• Object Type: First Edition Novel (Literary Provenance Copy)

• Author: Irene Stoddard Capwell

• Title: Mrs. Alderman Casey

• Year/Period: 1905 (Copyright and Publication)

• Publisher: R. F. Fenno & Company

• Place of Origin: New York

• Format/Binding: Publisher’s Green Cloth with Art Nouveau Cover Design

• Edition/Rarity: First Edition, First Printing (Provenance Artifact)

• Transcription of Inscription (Verbatim): Florence L. Jones Western Springs, Ill. Feb 19th 1909. Marjorie Birch 3906 – 14th Avenue