Eliot, George | A fine copy of the author's first novel

Property from the Workman Collection

Eliot, George

Adam Bede. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1859

3 vols., 8vo. Half-titles, 16pp. of publisher's advertisements at the end of vol. 3; some scattered spotting, but generally clean. Original cinnamon cloth, bound by Edmonds & Remnants, with binder's ticket to lower pastedown of vol. 1, covers stamped in blind, spines lettered and decorated in gilt, yellow endpapers; text block of vol. 2 just cracked before final gatherings. Housed in custom brown morocco clamshell case. 

First edition—fine copy of Eliot's first novel.

"A man never lies with more delicious languor under the influence of a passion than when he has persuaded himself that he shall subdue it to-morrow."

While Adam Bede was Eliot’s first full-length novel, Scenes of Clerical Life (1856), a collection of novellas, was her first published fiction. By 1859, Eliot was already a respected editor, essayist, and reviewer, but noted: "it had always been a vague dream of mine that some time or other I might write a novel," but feared she was 'deficient in dramatic power." Adam Bede, which includes seduction and infanticide, demonstrated Eliot's ability to execute a longer work that is both gripping and nuanced. While Scenes of Clerical Life was well-received, it was Adam Bede that became a bestseller.

REFERENCE:

Parrish 12; Sadlier 812; Wolff 2056