ELIOT, George (pseud Mary Ann Evans)

Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe

Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood, 1861. First Edition. Octavo (20cm); publisher's terra-cotta cloth, decoratively blind-stamped and lettered in gilt on spine; cream yellow endpapers; 3 preliminary leaves (including half-title, but lacking the two-page advertising leaf for Carlyle's Autobiography); 364pp + 16pp publisher's ads. Early ownership signature ("J. Wharton Duff, Aston House, April 6, 1861") on tipped-in leaf between front endpaper and half-title. Slight wear to spine ends and corners; gilt a trifle dull; clean repair to rear hinge; still a tight, attractive, Very Good copy.

Well-preserved first edition of what is arguably Eliot's most complex novel, long the bane of middle-school readers to whom it has been thoughtlessly prescribed as a moral tonic. This copy with an interesting contemporary ownership inscription dated in the month of publication.

Price: $1,200.00

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