The first edition of The Story Girl, L.M. Montgomery’s fourth book, was published by L.C. Page and Company (Boston) in 1911.
{ The Story Girl } { The Story Girl: Editions } { L.C. Page and Company } { Editions: 1908–1919 }
Cover art (by George Gibbs), frontispiece, title page, and page 1 of The Story Girl, by L.M. Montgomery (L.C. Page and Company, 1911).
Author
L.M. Montgomery
Title
Language
English
Country
United States of America
Publisher Location
Boston
Publisher
Publication Date
Format
Print, jacketed hardcover, 7 1/2” x 5 3/8”, x + 365 + 10 pp.
Illustrator
George Gibbs (frontispiece)
Cover Artist
George Gibbs
Publisher’s Description
To quote from one of our editor’s reports on the new Montgomery book—“Miss Montgomery has decidedly arrived in this story!” The remarkable success of her delightful ANNE books and of the charming “Kilmeny of the Orchard” has established her as one of America’s leading authors—a writer of books which touch the heart, uplift the spirit, and leave an imprint of lasting sweetness on the memory. But in “The Story Girl,” everywhere the touch of the finished artist is evident—a smoothness and polish which heightens the unusual style of a gifted author.
The environment is again the author’s beloved Prince Edward Island and the story and incidents possess the same simplicity and charm which characterize Miss Montgomery’s earlier books. The Story Girl, herself—Sara Stanley—is a fascinating creature, and will delight and thrill her readers with her weird tales of ghosts “and things.” She tells in wondrous voice of “The Mystery of the Golden Milestone,” “How Kissing Was Discovered,” and of just how the Milky Way happened into the heavens. She will make you feel the spell of the old orchard where she and her playmates spend such happy days, and with Felix, Dan and Beverly [sic] you will live again with her the “tragedies of childhood.”
Of Miss Montgomery’s previous books, the reviewers have written as follows:
“The art which pervades every page is so refined that the cultivated imagination will return to the story again and again in memory to find always something fresh to enjoy.” —Toronto World.
“Miss Montgomery has attained an honored place among the worth-while writers of fiction.” —Beacon and Budget.
“Miss Montgomery has a sympathetic knowledge of human nature, joined to high ideals, a reasonably romantic view point and a distinct gift of description.” —Chicago Record-Herald.
Contents
(i) [Half-Title Page]
(ii) Works of L.M. Montgomery [AGG, AA, KO, SG]
[Blank Recto]
[Frontispiece on Verso]
(iii) [Title Page, including epigraph]
THE ¶ STORY GIRL
By ¶ L.M. MONTGOMERY ¶ Author of “Anne of Green Gables,” “Anne of Avonlea,” “Kilmeny of the Orchard,” etc.
With frontispiece and cover in colour by ¶ GEORGE GIBBS
[Epigraph]
Boston L. C. Page & Company MDCCCCXI
(iv) [Copyright Page]
(v) [Dedication]
(vi) [Blank]
(vii–viii) Contents [erroneously numbered v–vi]
(1–365) Chapters 1–32
(366) [Blank Page]
(1–6) From L. C. Page & Company’s Announcement List of New Fiction
[Summaries, review quotes, and publication details for the following books: L.M. Montgomery’s The Story Girl (see “Publisher’s Description,” above), G.E. Theodore Roberts’s A Captain of Raleigh’s, Robert Nielson Stephens’s A Soldier of Valley Forge, Emma Rayner’s The Dilemma of Engeltie, Emma Rayner’s Free to Serve, Hugh C. Weir’s The Chronicles of Madelyn Mack, Eleanor H. Porter’s Miss Billy, Edgar M. Dilley’s The Red Fox’s Son, Norval Richardson’s George Thorne, Caroline Brown’s Dionis of the White Veil, Anthony Tudor’s The Case of Paul Breen, and H.D. Umbstaetter’s The Red-Hot Dollar.]
(1–4) Selections from L. C. Page & Company’s List of Fiction
[Brief descriptions and review quotes pertaining to several books by Robert Neilson Stephens and Charles G.D. Roberts.]
Copyright Statement
Copyright, 1911 ¶ by L. C. Page & Company (Incorporated)
Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London
Printing History
First Impression, May, 1911
Second Impression, June, 1911
Third Impression, July, 1911
Fourth Impression, August, 1911
Fifth Impression, September, 1911
Sixth Impression, March, 1919
Seventh Impression, June, 1920
Digitized Editions
First Impression (May 1911) from Internet Archive/Brigham Young University Library: https://archive.org/details/storygirl00mont/
First Impression (May 1911) from Internet Archive/University of Toronto Library: https://archive.org/details/storygirl00mont_1/
First Impression (May 1911) from HathiTrust Digital Archive/University of California Library: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.aa0016512287
Second Impression (June 1911) from Internet Archive/University of Toronto Library: https://archive.org/details/storygirl00mont_3/
Fifth Impression (September 1911) from Internet Archive/University of Toronto Library: https://archive.org/details/storygirl00montuoft/
Related Editions
The Story Girl (Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, 1911): Identical text, except for minor changes to front matter and end matter
The Story Girl (The Ryerson Press, 1944): Identical text, except for minor changes to front matter and end matter
Notes
The publisher’s description is taken from page 1 of “From L. C. Page & Company’s Announcement List of New Fiction,” located in the end matter of the volume. Epigraph and description are included.
Sources
Copy of the third impression (July 1911) in the site owner’s personal collection; thanks to Vanessa Brown for donating it. Thanks to Valerie Rogissart for information about later printings. The image above of the front cover is a scan of that copy; the images of the frontispiece, the title page, and page 1 are from the Internet Archive digitized version of a first-impression copy.