From the private collection of the owner of Winters Rare Books: The First, second and third impresssions of the first edition of Anne Frank's Het Achterhuis ("The Diary of a Young Girl") , published successively in June 1947, December 1947 and February 1948 in editions of 3,036, 6,830 and 10,500 copies by Uitgeverij Contact, Amsterdam. The books come with masterfully crafted facsimile dust jackets and accompanying belly bands. The facsimiles even reproduce the aging of the fragile paper, both on the inside and outside.
Offered in an authentic Dutch 1940s display cabinet with museum glass and an acid-free inlay, resulting in a museum-worthy presentation.
All three books are near fine copies with only minor wear:
- The cover of the first printing has a browned spine as usual, there are a few inconspicuous small scratches on the front cover, the back cover has some browning to the upper corner and a very vague faded spot to the lower part. The binding of this copy is very firm, slightly bleeding on the endpapers as usual, the pages are clean without inscriptions, names or other marks.
- - The light blue cardboard cover of the second printing is fresh with hardly any of use. The endpapers are intact with slight bleeding as usual. The binding is excellent. The name of the first owner is inconspicuously embossed on the first free endpaper. The lightly discolored pages are otherwise without marks or defects.
- - - The third printing remains in excellent condition, with slight discoloration on the spine, clean endpapers, firm binding, and clean pages without names, inscriptions, or other marks. The printed section of the original red belly band is still present.
A truly exceptional and exclusive set of the first three prints of this world-famous book, which is being preserved and presented in a unique and highly fitting way.
