F. Marion Crawford — Saracinesca

Edinburgh , William Blackwood and Sons , 1887. First edition. Cloth. The first UK edition of F. Marion Crawford's rich historical novel set in Rome. Complete in three volumes. The first UK edition. Complete in three volumes. In the publisher's original cloth binding.'Saracinesca' centres around the spiritual and economic problems of Rome's aristocracy of the 1860s. Set twenty years earlier to the time of publication, this novel can be considered a work of historical fiction in that it relates a time when the author was only a child. From American writer Francis Marion Crawford, whose parents had witnessed the brief 1848 revolution and had retold first-hand descriptions of the events of the 1860s to Crawford as a boy. Following from its critical and commercial success, Crawford wrote two sequels, Sant' Ilario and Don Orsino, the three of which are usually considered a trilogy. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, smart, with rubbing and bumping to the extremities. Slight cocking to the spines. Marks to the cloth. W. H. Smith & Son's Subscription Library bookplate to the front pastedowns. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright, with scattered spots throughout. Contemporary ownership inscription to each half title page. Good . Ill.: None. Good .