THACKERAY [inscribed by Trollope]

1879. [inscribed to Cardinal Manning] London: Macmillan and Co., 1879. 2 pp undated ads. Original red cloth decorated in black.

First Edition, being the ninth volume in the "English Men of Letters" series edited by John Morley. This copy has the ad leaf in the earliest state, listing nine of the titles (including this one) as "Ready" and SPENSER as "In the Press." Condition is very good (moderate wear at the spine ends, front endpaper cracked). Sadleir (TROLLOPE) 54. This is an inscribed presentation copy from Trollope, with the following inscription in Trollope's hand at the top of the title page: "His Eminence Cardinal Manning | with the author's regards". On the title page there is an inkstamp, and on the front pastedown a bookplate, "Ex Oblatorum S Caroli... Bibliotheca" and bearing the word "humilitas." This was the Oblates of St. Charles, centered at St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Bayswater (whose motto is "humilitas"). Quoting from the Manning papers at Emory University, Henry Edward Manning (1808-1892) was one of the most influential English Roman Catholic figures of his time. From his ordination in the Church of England in 1832, through his conversion to Catholicism in 1851, and to his death in 1892, his words and actions were powerful influences in England and in the Roman Catholic Church... Quoting also from the History of St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, [Following Manning's conversion,] in 1851 Cardinal Wiseman sent his most prestigious convert, Henry Edward Manning, to Bayswater to found a community whose mission would be to revitalize the clergy and faithful in the new diocese of Westminster. Manning drew his inspiration from St Charles Borromeo, who had founded an order of Oblate priests to renew the diocese of Milan in the sixteenth century. Manning founded the Oblates of St Charles at Bayswater, and had considerable success in evangelizing northwest London. In 1865, Manning was made second Archbishop of Westminster, and later Cardinal... As for Trollope, he was raised as a High Church Anglican; he became a mild supporter of the Oxford Movement, and "his experiences in Ireland brought him into a closer sympathy with the Roman Catholic Church. However, he was hardly ready to follow Newman to Rome!" [Niles]. Robert H. Taylor, in "Letters to Trollope" (The Trollopian, Sept. 1946), noted that after Trollope's death (three years after inscribing this book), a leather portfolio was found, containing the thirty letters he had received over the years that he treasured the most; one of Trollope's most-treasured letters was the one from Cardinal Manning thanking him for the gift of this very book. Note: the Oblates of St. Charles continued their ministry at St. Mary's until the mid-1970s, when they were dissolved by Cardinal Heenan. Since that time, numerous volumes from their library (with the same official bookplate and/or inkstamp as appear in this copy) have appeared in the market; we see about a dozen other "ex-Oblates" volumes on the market at the present. It was in 1979 that the future Trollope bibliographer Walter Smith bought this volume from a major dealer.