Robert Elsmere, First Edition (11 results)

Hardcover. 18,2 x 12,5 cm. Roter Original-Leinenband, berieben. Der Buchrücken wurde am hinteren Außengelenk nachgeleimt. Ein kleiner, privater Stempel auf dem Vortitel. (8), 690 Seiten. Der Band innen nur leicht gebräunt. Insgesamt noch ganz gut erhalten. -- Bitte Portokosten außerhalb EU erfragen! / Please ask for postage costs outside EU! / S ' il vous plait demander des frais de port en dehors de l ' UE! // Bitte beachten Sie auch unsere Fotos! / Please also note our photos! / Veuillez noter nos photos -- Nehmen Sie sich ein gutes Buch mit auf die Sommerwiese. Bei uns werden Sie fündig! -- Wir kaufen Ihre werthaltigen Bücher! Lit.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Brown cloth decorative bands and gilt titles. 701pp.

Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good Plus. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good Plus. First Edition. Size: 8vo.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Green binding, uncommon 2 volume set, 1st edn, inscribed by author as Mary Augusta Ward, her real name, suffragette campaigner and social activist for women with comments about the book, preferred not using her married name, dated 1906, interesting view, small label at top of right corner, her 2nd work which was very popular and won her an immediate audience. Signed by Author(s).

Soft cover. Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. Three volumes, octavos, original cloth, volume one recased with later endpapers, circulating library labels inside covers of 2 volumes, worn, some pages roughly opened, short worm trail on cover of Volume III. This, her second novel, was her most famous. Her combination of serious intellectual challenge, vivid characterization, and religious doubt caused a sensation and made the book an instant success. First edition.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. First Edition. Blue cloth with gilt lettering and elaborate gilt borders. Bump to head and heel of spine. Light rubbing to all edges, corners bumped. Previous owner inscription to title page dated 1888, text is otherwise exceptionally clean and bright, no marks. "An exploration of faith and doubt through the story of an Oxford clergyman struggling with his beliefs after being exposed to the writings of German rationalists. Elsmere then takes up constructive liberalism and devotes himself to work among the poor and uneducated. Oscar Wilde in his essay "The Decay of Lying" famously quipped that Robert Elsmere was "simply Arnold's Literature and Dogma with the literature left out.".

Three volumes, 8vo, pp. [x], 371; [vi], 374, [2] advertisements; [vi], 411, [1] note; a very good copy in the original dark green cloth, title in black on upper covers, spines lettered in gilt; upper cover of each volume with remains of lending library label. (Spines very slightly bowed; some corners bumped; lower joint of volume I split.) First edition of an important late 19th century novel, which reflects the anguish of the immediately preceding generation about questions of faith. Mary Ward (1851-1920) was the daughter of Thomas Arnold, brother of Matthew and son of the great Dr Arnold of Rugby School. Although born in Tasmania, where her father was inspector of schools, she spent her formative years in the Lake District, both at the family home of Fox How and at school in Ambleside. As well as the drama of her father's religious doubts (and indeed those of many other intellectual contemporaries), the Lake District plays a large part in this great novel, which had an enormous success both in Britain and America. Mary Ward would of course have been deeply conscious of the literature of the Oxford Movement, and it can be no coincidence that the final section of the novel (book VII in volume III) is titled 'Gain and Loss', mirroring the novel Loss and Gain which J.H. Newman had published exactly forty years before. With the remains of lending library labels of Cawthorn, Hutt & son, of Cockspur St (off Trafalgar Square), London. Sadleir 3293; Wolff 7024.

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. FIRST EDITION. SIGNED LETTER. Includes a one and a half page handwritten and signed letter by Ward to her publisher. Also features the bookplate of accomplished Danish actor, Jean Hersholt (1886 - 1956), which is pasted down to the front end page of Volume I. Hersholt, perhaps best known for his role as Shirley Temple's grandfather in Heidi (1937), appeared in over one hundred films, directed several films, won a Golden Globe Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. He was also an eminent collector of books by Hans Christian Andersen and translated many of Andersen's fairy tales into English. These were later published in six volumes and are still considered to be one of the best English translations. Born in Australia, British author Mary Augusta Ward (1851 - 1920) published under her married name, Mrs. Humphry Ward. She was passionate about improving education for the poor, and supported opening Oxford University to women. She helped form the Association for the Education of Women in 1878; however, she was also an anti-suffragette and served as the founding president of the Women's National Anti-Suffragette League in the early 1900s. This novel, which was a best seller in the 1800s, follows a Victorian clergyman through his religious crisis in which he doubts his faith after reading the work of German rationalist philosophers. Instead of turning to atheism, he becomes a "constructive liberal" and gets involved in social work with the poor and uneducated. It was written loosely as a response to a sermon by John Wordsworth suggesting that religious unsettlement leads to sin. Her overly sensitive treatment of the subject led to it being a great success during a time period in which it may easily have viewed as blasphemy. A very good triple decker set in the original blue cloth with gilt titles to spines and black titles to front boards. There is a small closed tear along the exterior front joint of Volumes I.and II All volumes have minor wear and a few chips to the book cloth along the corners, edges, and hinges. Bumping to corners, minor rubbing to boards, and wear to joints. The interiors remain very clean overall. There are floral patterned end pages in first two volumes and variant chocolate colored end pages in Volume III. The set is housed in an attractive dark green half-morocco slipcase with maroon and gilt leather labels to spine. There are a few minor scuff marks to the case and a closed tear to the hinge of the tri-fold sleeve which fits within. Volume I has 371 pages; Volume II has 374 pages plus ads; Volume III has 411 pages. LIT/031908. Signed.

Dark Blue Cloth. Condition: Good. First Edition. In three volumes: volume I - (x), 371pp, volume II - (vi), 374pp, 2pp adverts, volume III - (vi), 411pp, small bookplate of Michael Sadleir on front pastedown of each volume, floral endpapers, original blind-stamped dark blue-green cloth, some pages in volume III uncut. Michael Sadleir (1888-1957): author and book-collector. His collection of nineteenth century literature was catalogued and published in 1951 and is the essential work of reference on nineteenth century literature. Size: 7.5 x 5 Inches. Literature.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Later printing circa 1900 with its original and very scarce jacket. From the jacket's front panel, "A book that is agitating the world". No publication date, produced with inexpensive paper that is now toned and with tears to several early pages, however, the jacket, although somewhat dirtied, remains in very good condition with just a couple of small chips. Gold topstain and titles. Scarce in the jacket.

WARD, Mrs. Humphry. Robert Elsmere. Two vols. Orig. cloth. London: Macmillan & Co., 1888. Early two-volume edition published the same year as the first (three-volume) edition. Wolff 7024b. A near fine set.