Anthony Trollope — The Way We Live Now

London, Chapman and Hall, 1875. First edition. Cloth. The first edition of Anthony Trollope's longest novel, dramatising the 1873 Panic and subsequent economic depression, illustrated throughout by Luke Fildes. The first edition, first printing.Complete in two volumes.Half-title is present to each volume.Volume I illustrated with nineteen plates. Collated, bound without the plate to face page 82.Volume II illustrated with twenty plates. Collated, complete. A satirical novel by Anthony Trollope, 'The Way We Live Now' was inspired by the financial scandals of the early 1870s. In his typical style of social commentary, Trollope laments in this novel the greed and dishonesty that grew from these scandals, as the Panic of 1873 turned into an economic depression in Europe and North America. 'The Way We Live Now' is Trollope's longest novel, comprising of one-hundred chapters. This was also one of the last significant Victorian novels to be published in monthly parts, serialised from February 1874 in a total of twenty monthly parts.Illustrated by Luke Fildes. Rebound in a cloth binding. Externally, generally smart, institutional label to the front board of Volume II. Light bumping to the head and tail of the spines and to the extremities. A little light rubbing to the boards and spines. Cloth to the boards of Volume I is cockled. Small chip to the rear joint of Volume I. A few light marks to the boards. Front hinge of both volumes are strained, rear hinge of both volumes are weak. Remnants of a label to the recto of the front endpaper of Volume I. Internally, binding is strained in places, more so to Volume II. Pages are lightly age-toned and generally clean with the occasional spot, and institutional stamp to a few pages and plates. Good . Ill.: Luke Fildes. Good .