An American edition of Wilkie Collins' second novel, "Basil; Or, The Crossed Path", published c.1870 by T.B. Peterson & Brothers in Philapdelphia. Printed in two columns.

Described by the Encyclopedia Britannica as 'a highly coloured tale of seduction and vengeance with a contemporary middle-class setting and passages of uncompromising realism', "Basil" was first published in 1852. The book tells the story of the titular protagonist's secret and unconsummated marriage to a linen-draper's sexually precocious daughter, and the shocking betrayal, insanity, and death that follow. Contemporary reviewers vehemently disapproved of this explicit treatment of adultery.