George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans] — Adam Bede

Edinburgh, William Blackwood and Sons, 1859. First edition. Leather. A pleasing calf-bound first edition of George Eliot's highly regarded debut novel. First edition. In contemporary half calf, with marbled boards. Renewed endpapers. Bound without the half titles and catalogue to the rear of Vol III, as is often the case - many copies were not supplied with the catalogue and no priority was established. With the statement 'The Right of Translation is Reserved' closely trimmed to the bottom of Vol III, with loss to the text. No statements to the other two volumes, though this could likely be due to the binding.  Adam Bede is the first novel of English author George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. Now a regularly used text in studies of 19th-century English literature, the novel follows the lives and love "rectangle" of four characters in the rural and close-knit community of Hayslope.  Eliot described the work as "a country story - full of the breath of cows and the scent of hay".  The work marked the emergence of a lasting novelist to rank with Scott and Dickens.  In contemporary half calf, with marbled boards. Externally, very smart, with really only light rubbing to the extremities. Bookplate of one Arthur Kelly to the front paste downs. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and generally clean, with scattered spots to the endpapers and the odd spot to the contents. Contemporary ownership inscription to Vol I title page. With a further inscription and tipped-in clipping to Vol I front blank. With the statement 'The Right of Translation is Reserved' closely trimmed to the bottom of Vol III, with loss to the text. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: None. Very Good Indeed .