Edward Lytton Bulwer — The Disowned and Rienzi

Paris, Baudry's European Library, 1833-1836. Leather. A historical novel and social satire from the pen of Bulwer Lytton in decorative calf bindings. Some foxing as usual with this edition. The Disowned in which Lytton "replicates the formula of social satire intermixed with sensational incident, the hero is a soberly contemplative scholar who learns that self-fulfilment proceeds from philanthropic action rather than solitary thought" -ODNB. Rienzi is described as an "amalgam of careful scholarship and willful invention, of political allegory, philosophical idealism, and extreme melodrama" -ODNB. It was the inspiration for Wagner's opera. The Disowned is from Baudry's Collection of Ancient and Modern British Novels and Romances, Volume XLVII. Rienzi is from Baudry's Collection of Ancient and Modern British Authors, Volume CXXVII. In half calf and marbled paper bindings. Externally, some edgewear and rubbing. The front joint of Rienzi is starting. The hinges are rather strained. Internally, firmly bound, with scattered foxing. There are tidemarks to the upper fore-edge corners throughout Rienzi. Good Only . Ill.: None. Good Only .