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Eliot, George : The Novels of George Eliot - Set

William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1872

Eight works (volumes) in seven books. No publication date marked but probably 1872. All books full bound in leather. Owner badges stamped in gilt front and back. Edges, decoration and titling in gilt. Five ridges and six panels. In general good to very good condition. The badges declare former ownership by Thomas William Bramston, a local politician. Of interest is that he was the son-in-law of Captain Elias Harvey of HMS Temeraire - which gained legendary status at the Battle of Trafalgar. The ship later gained even further fame when painted by Turner on her way to being broken up. The badge on the rear cover notes the fact of his parliamentary seat. The deep claret leather covers are smart and very handsome. The front board of volume six is loose and is included. The edges of all the volumes are decorated in lively gilt. Volume 1: Adam Bede. Frontis and end marbled papers in excellent condition. Gilt papertrims are fresh and bright. The earlier pages are lightly foxed. Beyond this pages are very clean, tidy and bright. Volume 2: Mill on the Floss. The front board cover has some storage staining about the spine corners. There is some mild sunning at the spine edges. Inside, once again the marbled frontis and end papers are excellent. The early pages are mildly foxed. The gilt on the papertrims is smart. The contents are firm, bright, fresh. Volume 3 and Volume 4 are included in one book: Silas Marner (3) and Scenes from a Clerical Life (4). The boards have scuffing and marks from storage and shelving. There is some light wear and sunning to the edges. Inside, there is a school (Felsted) presentation plate to Clement Vavasor Durell (a splendid mathematician who taught at Winchester College for many years; his mathematics textbooks were most successful). There is an inscription noting that the set had been donated by Bramston. The marbled papers are fresh and good. The gilt trimmings are bright and healthy. The early pages have some foxing, but beyond this the pages are tight and tidy and very clean. Volume 5: Felix Holt, the Radical. The boards are elegant with very light shelving wear and scuffing. The spine seams are a little sunned. The first quarter of the pages have light dustings of foxing about the top runs. The pages are largely very clean and attractive. Volume 6: Romola. Aside from the loose front board, the book is contented with its condition. There are freckles of foxing from early on, but the pages are certain and amiable. Volume 7: Middlemarch - a Study of Provincial Life. A contentedly bourgeois book. The boards are firm and healthy. The binding is youthful. The frontispages have some storage marks, but beyond this the book gleams from trim to edge with health. Volume 8: Daniel Deronda. The boards are benign in their comfort. The back cover is rubbed from storage and has a small strip of packaging stuck to it. The frontispages have foxing but the contents are smart, neat and attractive. This is a lovely set of Eliot's novels. Their provenance is thrilling in their connections, their condition is enlivening, and their ownership would be utterly satisfying. fk. Book Condition: Good. Binding: Hardcover. Jacket: No Jacket

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