Artemus Ward: His Book (1866); His Travels (1866); In London and other papers (1867) (3 volume set) de Artemus Ward - 0

New York: G. W. Carleton & Co.. Hardcover. Good. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. J. H. Howard. See photos for condition details. Hardcovers, three volume set. All three books are from the same publisher, but not all are first editions and very slightly in condition. Volume 1 (224 pages, 1866 copyright) has a chip in the cloth at the top of the spine along with edge and corner bumps/wear. Front hinge is cracked inside and outside but the rear hinge is good. The front board may eventually detach if this is not addressed. The page portion text pages are tight like the book was not read that often. The front pastedown has some sort of cold written in the upper left corner, no other handwriting found. Volume 2 (231 pages, 1866 copyright also) as fading to the cloth and chipping at the bottom of the spine. The hinges at the boards are good but noisy in the text portion is tight also. This one has a handwriting on the second end page from the original owner. Volume 3 (229 pages) also has edge and corner bumps/wear like the other two books and has minor's chipping at the top and bottom spine but there is a tear in the cloth the upper right edge. The interior binding of this one is good, no issues at boards and text pages are tight. There is no handwriting in volume 3 though the top edge of the title page has been cut at an angle, presumably to remove someone's name. Volume 3 is the only first edition out of the three books. Even though all three books came from the same source, the condition grades very slightly: volume 1 would grade as a G- because of the front board cracked hinge on both the inside and exterior, with the concern the board will become detached at some point. Volume 2 grades as only good condition because of the chipping on the spine, and volume 3 grades as G+ only because of the small tear at the top right of the spine and the cut on the title page. Internal binding of all three books is strong as far as the text pages.