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ELIOT, George [Mary Ann Evans]. Middlemarch. A Study of Provincial Life. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Son...
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$75,000.00
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Description
ELIOT, George [Mary Ann Evans]. Middlemarch. A Study of Provincial Life. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, December 1871- December 1872.8 parts, 8vo (177 x 125 mm). Title-page of first volume in Part 1; errata slip in Part 4; half-titles and contents to all volumes and title-pages for Parts 2-4 bound at end of Part 8. Original green printed wrappers, pictorial vignette in center of front wrappers; housed together in a custom green quarter morocco folding case.
FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL PARTS OF ELIOT'S GREATEST NOVEL AND ONE OF THE MASTERPIECES OF VICTORIAN FICTION. Collates complete, including errata slip in Part 4, and all inserted slips and advertisements called for. Due to the scope of her novel, Eliot and her companion George Lewes suggested to her publisher, John Blackwood, that the novel be published in eight parts priced at five shillings each and issued every two months starting in December 1871. While each part gave the reader more of the story than the traditional monthly serial publications, the more expensive price and the wait of two months for the next part meant Eliot needed to ensure her plots kept the public interested enough to purchase the next installment. Although Eliot found writing for serialization to be an enormously difficult task, Middlemarch proved to be a modestly popular success and cemented Eliot's reputation, selling 5,000 copies of the edition in parts and 3,000 additional copies of the four-volume bound edition. EXTREMELY SCARCE IN THE ORIGINAL PARTS.
This copy conforms to the Parrish copy. The William E. Self copy which sold at Christie's in December, 2009 for $68,500 had slightly better spines, but a previous owner had written the part number on each spine in black ink. In addition, the back cover to Self's Part 1 did not conform to Parrish.
Condition: Part 1 front wrapper partially detached and with small ink stain; some wear to spine ends with some minor chips or short splits; some minor rubbing and toning to spines; occasional other light edgewear to wrappers with minor creases or nicks; minor soiling; some spines a little leaned. Overall, an excellent unsophisticated set.
References: Baker & Ross A10.1.a1; Parrish 29-31.
Provenance: The Library of a Minnesota Collector.
Auction Info
2025 December 15 Rare Books Signature® Auction #6323 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2025
15th
Monday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 2
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 249
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