H. Rider Haggard Works
1910 - Queen Sheba's Ring
QUEEN SHEBA'S RING first appeared as a serialized novel, published in Nash's Magazine from April through November 1909. This serialization was not illustrated.
McKay, Scott, and Whatmore claim that Eveleigh Nash published the first edition in book-form in London September, 1910. Neither McKay, Scott, nor Whatmore mention the specific day in September that this novel was published in book-form in the UK and its colonies. Some bookdealers mistakenly claim the publication date to be September 10, two days after the publication of the American first edition because Whatmore lists the publication date as "Sep 10," which actually is his shorthand for September 1910, not September 10, 1910. See below for proof that the Nash British first edition was published September 7, 1910, which is a single day before the American first edition was published. The Colonial G. Bell first edition was very likely published in February 1910, much earlier than the British Nash first edition. See below for more info.
According to Whatmore, 7,600 copies were printed for the Nash edition, with a color frontispiece by Cyrus Cuneo, and 11,000 were printed for the Colonial edition (G. Bell).
Higgins claims that Eveleigh Nash paid a total of ÂŁ750 ($127,000 in 2020 dollars) for the serial rights (ÂŁ375), and an advance (ÂŁ375) for publication in book-form.
Doubleday, Page and Company published the first edition in book-form in New York on September 8, 1910. Sigurd Schou created a fantastic color frontispiece and 4 additional black and white illustrations. There are no ads at the end of the book. McKay and Scott both agree on the New York publication date.
See the VisualHaggard.org page dedicated to the illustrations found in various editions.
In the Saturday, September 3, 1910 issue of The Nation there appeared a notice from Eveleigh Nash declaring that QUEEN SHEBA'S RING would be ready "next Wednesday." Therefore, it follows that Nash published its first edition on Wednesday, September 7, 1910, a single day before Doubleday published its first edition.
Below, a copy of the British first edition with original dust jacket, which was gifted by HRH to his nephew. I wish this copy were in my collection, but alas, it is not. The dust jacket is extremely rare--I have never seen another.
Eveleigh Nash first British edition
I own a nice copy, but the one below is not mine
Frontispiece and title-page
Eveleigh Nash printing history
Bell's Indian and Colonial Library First Edition
Published without a frontispiece, but with the Nash frontispiece pasted to the front cover of the book
G. Bell title-page
The G. Bell first edition has a Bell's Indian and Colonial Library catalogue at the end that is dated February, 1910. The list of books includes QUEEN SHEBA'S RING, so it is very probable that the Bell Colonial first edition is the earliest published edition in book-form, preceding the Nash British and Doubleday American first editions by at least 6 months.
G. Bell & Sons evidently partnered with Copp Clark in Canada. The Copp Clark copy is bound in red cloth without a frontispiece. I do not own a copy.
The two copies of the Doubleday, Page and Company first American edition with original dust jackets shown below are sadly not in my collection. I own a copy without DJ.
Frontispiece and title-page
A variant binding exists, bluish cloth with ring decoration in orange. This variant may be the one that came with a dust jacket, for below you can see the the blue cloth is visible where the dust jacket is chipped at the top front panel.
A signed copy of the Doubleday first edition that I found on the Internet, but did not buy
A copy of the Garden City Publishing American paperback reprint edition that I used to own
Below, my copy of the Grayson British reprint edition original Dust Jacket
George Newnes paperback frontispiece
