Adam Bede

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1859 Likely reprint of an early American Edition, in one volume, with the stated date of 1859 on title page (no copyright info. given). Hard cover in brown cloth blind stamped with circular intersecting forms to both boards, the titles in gold to the spine, along with "Scenes of Clerical Life." Glazed brown endpapers, iv, 5-452, plus 4 pp. publisher's advertisements at rear. There were a number of early reprints and repackaging into sets which included this very successful debut novel, but Harper & Brothers was the first American publisher. First published in serial at Blackwoods Magazine. CONDITION: Good Plus, small losses to cloth at head and foot of spine, with old water stain to lower bottom fore edge most pages and some minor foxing to prelims. Some edge wear. Hinges are in order. and pages are generally bright.** Warwarkshire-born Victorian novelist, Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880), using the pen name George Eliot, tells a delicately drawn tale of the seduction of a young country woman by the local squire, and its moral aftermath on the man who loves her. From the North American Review:" Thoroughly simple and natural, its truthfulness is full of strength, and its simplicity is that of reality. There is as quiet atmosphere permeating the whole book, as the warm June sunshine fills the air. Thermal scenes, the honest daily work, the home-talk of shrewd and hearty men and women,--all are managed with skill, and show the writer's own thorough appreciation of a quiet country life." NAR, Oct. 1859, Vol 89, No. 185, 547-54pp. A worthy early reading copy. Watson 900. . Hard Cover. Good Plus.