The CARY Conundrum

Henry Francis Cary Editions

I have been hunting Dante books for well over a decade. I use Abebooks, eBay, Biblio, Bookfinder, and a few others. In some cases the books are clearly described with the appropriate pictures and the price seems reasonable. But way more often now than ever, the book description is either misleading or just flat out wrong, and the prices are not appropriate for the book, i. e. they are ridiculously overpriced.

In this post I will explore this irritating fact focusing on Cary’s translation of the Divine Comedy. His translation set the standard for all future translations and is arguably the most reprinted version, surpassed maybe by Longfellow, but I am not so sure of that. Still, in the mid- to late-19th century, Cary’s Comedy was king.

The Cary Conundrum

Cary published four editions of the Divine Comedy during his lifetime: 1814, 1819, 1831, and 1844. I am leaving out of this discussion his two-volume Inferno of 1805-1806 and the 1822 pirated version of his Divine Comedy, and its reprint.

One could easily argue Cary’s editions are important and influential because, though not the first English translation, it represents the the first accessible, and ultimately popular translation. Each of Cary’s subsequent editions represent his improvements; therefore, each is, I feel, highly collectible.

After Cary died in 1844, there were no more revised editions, so from that point on any edition published is just a reprint, and in most cases, a reprint of the fourth edition. Interestingly, none of the editions published in Cary’s lifetime had illustrators.

Cary’s Worth

The most I have ever paid for Cary’s work was the 1819 second edition 3-volume set which I paid just under $500. His second edition is not that common, but not impossible to find. As of this writing, using Bookfinder.com, there are only two sets available, one is $480 (about what I paid) the other is $1400. Based on the descriptions their conditions seem equal, and of course there are no pictures (a major pet peeve of mine). Why the huge price disparity? Honestly, do people just make numbers up?

Can Cary’s translation command a higher price? For sure. I regularly see the 1814 Taylor and Hessey first edition, second issue 3-volume set (probably really released in 1818, see Big Daddy Cary DC Part 1 for the details) selling from $8,000 to just under $10,000.

I have NEVER seen the 1814 J. Barfield (first edition, first issue) for sale except the two of the three editions (Inferno and Purgatorio) I bought for around $200. Yes, totally lucked out. These obviously would be worth more than the Taylor and Hessey editions because they represent the ones Cary funded himself and very, very, very few sold with the J. Barfield imprint. On potterauctions.com dated August 28, 2021, their description to sell a set of Cary’s J. Barfield imprints says, “no copies being listed at auction in the past 100 years.”¹ If true, that’s crazy. Wish my set was complete.

On eBay there is a single volume of the 1814 Taylor and Hessey, Paradiso, and the asking price is $3000! It’s been there for about a year. It seems obvious they looked it up and saw the 3-volume set going for almost $10,000, so they divided by three. Problem is the $10,000 set was listed at least 5 years ago.

So what’s my point? The 1814 Taylor and Hessey for $3000 was based on the price a bookseller had listed for a complete set, but that bookseller’s price was so bloated that it has been sitting for at least 5 years. If it has been sitting that long is it really worth that price? The problem is non-bookdealers (and maybe even bookdealers) google books to see what they are selling for by other people. In the case of Cary, these early editions might only have just one, maybe two, for sale anywhere on the internet. So prices are being based on bloated prices of books that don’t sell because the asking price is way too high in the first place.

Post-Cary Cary

With the post-1844 books we see absolute craziness. One of the biggest issues I come across with these editions is the publication years are flat out wrong. It is easier to explain with examples. Both examples are currently (as of this writing) on eBay.

Here is the first example. It’s the Divine Comedy with an asking price of $425.15.

The post’s description says A. L. Burt publisher, 1844. The problem? The year is completely wrong. Burt did not publish books in 1844, he published books from around 1883 to 1937.² Further, on the title page it states “Burt’s Library of the World’s Best Books.” It was in the 1890’s when he began publishing this series.³

Here is where the seller erred. This is a reprint of Cary’s fourth edition. In the original 1844 edition. The preface ends with “February 1844.”⁴ Since the Burt is a reprint of that edition and there is no date on the title page, the seller erroneously thinks it was published in 1844. There is also another listing for “Burt 1844” asking $500.00. The only editions published in 1844 were by William Smith, London.

Here is a second example:

This one was published by Henry G. Bohn, London. The title page is dated 1860, but again, this is a reprint of Cary’s fourth edition. Why is this $795.00?! I paid $90.00 for the actual 1844 edition. In fact, Bohn published Cary’s Divine Comedy in 1847, 1850, 1856, and 1860, that I know of, so this is at least a fourth reprint of Cary’s fourth edition. Absurd.

Post-Cary Collectibles?

Some post-1844 editions might be valuable to collectors because of the art. In 1845 D. Appleton was the first to publish Cary’s Comedy with illustrations. It had 12 of John Flaxman’s engravings.⁵ In 1861 Hatchette publishers in Paris were first to publish the Inferno with Gustave Dore’s illustrations,⁶ though the translation was in French. In 1868 they followed with the Purgatorio and Paradiso in one volume with Dore’s illustrations.⁷

The first instance of a Cary reprint in English with Dore illustrations that I could find mentioned was listed in Biography of English Translations from Medieval Sources⁸ and it listed the year 1866. After much searching I found a copy on eBay and it did have a picture of the title page. The publisher was Cassell, Petter, Gaplin and the year was clearly listed (in Roman Numerals) as 1866. It was just the Inferno.

Post-Cary Publishers

Below is a list of Cary reprints from 1845-1899. Under “No Date” I listed the year the publisher became active. There could be more in this time frame, but this is all I have found so far. The publications with no date were almost assuredly published in the late 1800’s. I left off the publishers after 1899, and there were a whole lot of them, even going into today.

No Date - Divine Comedy unless otherwise noted

A. L. Burt, NY - (began publishing 1883)
American News Company - (began publishing 1864)
Belford, Clarke, & Co., Chicago, NY - Dore Illustrations - (began publishing in 1875)
Cassell and Co., Limited, London, NY, Paris - Purgatory and Paradise
- (began publishing 1883)
Cassell, Petter, Galpin, London, NY - Purgatory and Paradise
- (began publishing 1858)
Cassell, Petter, Galpin, London, NY, Paris - Purgatory and Paradise
- (began publishing 1858)
Cassell, Petter, Galpin, & Co., NY - Inferno - Dore illustrations
- (began publishing 1878)
Collins Clear-Type Press, London, Glasgow - Inferno - (began publishing 1892)
Collins Clear-Type Press, London, Glasgow - Purgatorio and Paradiso
- (began publishing 1892)
Frank F. Lovell & Company, NY - (published between 1884-1890)
Frederick Warne & Co., London - The “Chandos Classics” - (series begun in 1868)
Frederick Warne & Co., London - (began publishing 1865)
George Newnes - (began publishing in 1884)
George Newnes, London - (began publishing in 1884)
Henry Altemus, Philadelphia - Purgatorio and Paradiso - Dore illustrations
- (began publishing 1842, but their Inferno - see below - was published in 1888)
Hurst & Co., NY - (began publishing 1871)
John W. Lovell, NY - Inferno - (began publishing 1882)
John W. Lovell, NY - Purgatorio and Paradiso - (began publishing 1882)
P. F. Collier & Son Co., NY - Inferno - (began publishing 1875)
Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., London - (began publishing 1889)
Thomas Y. Cromwell & Co., NY - (began publishing c. 1870)
Thompson & Thomas, Chicago - Inferno - Dore illustrations
- (began publishing 1890’s)
Worthington Co., NY - (published between 1885-1893)

1845 - D. Appleton and Co., NY, Phila-12 Flaxman engravings, 1st illustrated edition
- William Smith, London
1847 - Henry G. Bohn, London
1850 - Henry G. Bohn, London (2 volumes)
- D. Appleton and Co., NY - 12 Flaxman engravings
1851 - D. Appleton and Co., NY, Phila. - 12 Flaxman engravings
1852 - D. Appleton and Co., NY, Phila. - 12 Flaxman engravings
1853 - D. Appleton and Co. NY - 12 Flaxman engravings
1855 - D. Appleton and Co., NY, Phila. - 12 Flaxman engravings
1856 - Henry G. Bohn, London
1857 - D. Appleton and Co., NY - 12 Flaxman engravings
1858 - D. Appleton and Co., NY, Phila - 12 Flaxman engravings
1859 - D. Appleton and Co., NY - 12 Flaxman engravings
1860 - Henry G. Bohn, London
1865 - Bell and Dald, London - 34 Flaxman engravings
- Cassell, Petter, Gaplin, London - Dore illustrations
1866 - Cassell, Petter, Gaplin, London - Dore illustrations
1868 - D. Appleton and Co., NY - 12 Flaxman engravings
- Alfred Thomas Crocker, London
1869 - D. Appleton & Co., London - no Flaxman engravings
1870 - D. Appleton & Co., London - no Flaxman engravings
- Frederick Warne & Co., London, NY
1875 - D. Appleton and Co., NY - no Flaxman engravings
1876 - George Bell and Sons, London
1877 - George Bell and Sons, London
1879 - D. Appleton & Co., London - no Flaxman engravings
1880 - American Book Exchange, NY
1881 - T. Y. Crowell & Co., Boston
- John Wertele Lovell, NY
- Carl Von Buhren, NY (2 volumes)
1883 - Cassell & Co., Ltd. - Inferno - Dore illustrations
1884 - George Bell & Sons, London
1885 - Pollard & Moss, NY - Inferno - Dore illustrations
1886 - George Bell and Sons, London
1888 - Henry Altemus, Philadelphia - Inferno - Dore illustrations
- George Bell and Sons, London - Inferno
1889 - Frederick Warne & Co., London, NY
- George Bell and Sons, London
1890 - Frederick Warne & Co., London, NY
- D. Appleton & Co., London - no Flaxman engravings
1891 - W. W. Gibbings, London
1892 - Frederick Warne & Co., London, NY
- Peter Fenelon Collier, NY - Inferno - Dore illustrations
- Cassell & Co., Limited, London - Inferno - Dore illustrations
1893 - Cassell & Co., Limited, London - Purgatorio and Paradiso - Dore illustrations
1894 - Frederick Warne & Co., London, NY
1897 - Thomas Y. Cromwell & Co., NY

1. “Cary, Henry Francis, Translator (1772–1844). the Vision; Or...” Potter & Potter Auctions. Lot Detail #377 - Cary, Henry Francis, Translator (1772–1844). The Vision; or, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, of Dante Alighieri, London, Printed for the author by J. Barfield. auctions.potterauctions.com/LotDetail.aspx?inventoryid=47253. Accessed 11 July 2024.

2. “A. L. Burt.” A. L. Burt - The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia, www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/A._L._Burt#:~:text=From%20The%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle,%2C%20NY%20(1898%2D1914). Accessed 09 July 2024.

3. “Burt’s Library of the World’s Best Books: Series: LibraryThing.” LibraryThing.Com, www.librarything.com/nseries/descriptions/163955. Accessed 09 July 2024.

4. Cary, Henry Francis. The Vision: or Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise of Dante Alighieri. William Smith, London, 1844, p. ii.

5. King, Robert Wylie. “Parson Primrose”; the Life, Work and Friendships of Henry Francis Cary (1772-1844) Translator of Dante. New York, George H. Doran, 1925, p 284.

6. “Dore Dante First Edition - Gustave Dore.” Bauman Rare Books, www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/dore-gustave-dante/dore-dante/111914.aspx. Accessed 11 July 2024.

7. “Gustave Doré’s Dramatic Illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy.” Open Culture, www.openculture.com/2013/10/gustave-dores-dramatic-illustrations-of-dantes-divine-comedy.html. Accessed 11 July 2024.

8. Farrar, Clarissa P. and Austin P. Evans. Biography of English Translations from Medieval Sources. Columbia University Press, 1946, p.143.