Saintine, X.B. — Picciola, or the Prison Flower

New York, Clarke, Given and Hooper, . University Edition. Hardcover. Size: 12mo 7" - 7. Handsomely produced University Edition. Sturdy, tightly-bound hardcover copy with gilt top-stain. Lovely gilt-trimmed marbled papers over boards with 1/2textured tan leathers, tooled and decorated at spines with distinct gilt lettering. Minor scuffing at edges with light bruising at tips. Decorated endpapers. No date of publication given, but appears to be 1890s or 1880s. According to a Wikipedia entry about the novel, "The book tells the story of Count Charney, a former soldier who lost his trust in man and has been jailed for conspiring against Napoleon. Charney one day discovers a plant growing between two paving stones of his cell. This plant becomes for him a distraction, then an obsession, then a passion and finally it becomes a symbol of life and love. Through the physiological development of the plant he calls Picciola he learns to love and appreciate beauty through this real example of the evolution of nature. The image of a small flower that grows and survives with the care provided by Charney in a place so sinister as a prison, is an image of the force of nature and persistence. Charney follows the example of the flower and seeks to enrich his mind and soul amidst the walls that imprison him." v + 319 pp.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. . . . Very Good