Castle Richmond; A Novel

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860. First American Edition, 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very good +. Duodecimo size, 480 pp. Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) has delighted generations with his depictions of 19th-century British life; no one can describe his characters with such precision, allowing us to not only visualize the physical attributes of the various characters but also giving us glimpses of their thoughts, desires, fears, and ambitions. Many of us met Trollope through his "Chronicles of Barsetshire", a "series of books set in the imaginary English county of Barsetshire [which] remains his best loved and most famous work, but he also wrote convincing novels of political life as well as studies that show great psychological penetration. One of his greatest strengths was a steady, consistent vision of the social structures of Victorian England, which he re-created in his books with unusual solidity" (n.b., from the website of Britannica).

This novel, "Castle Richmond", was the third of five novels set in Ireland, and was first published in the UK as a "three-decker" (a publication in three parts/books). Trollope had worked in Ireland between the years 1841 and 1859, so he knew the country well and was able to write about it as familiarly as he could about England. While all of Trollope's novels contain many characters and various plots and sub-plots, "Castle Richmond" is more than usually complicated - which should delight all true Trollopians.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full brown vertical-ribbed cloth, both boards blind-stamped with a thick and thin ruled border with a geometrical circular design in the center, the spine stamped in blind with four plain panels with gold lettering, brown coated endpapers, top edge stained brown; text block duodecimo size, the binding measures 7.75" by 5.25", pagination: [i-v] vi [7]-474 [475-480, publisher's ads].

___CONDITION: Volume is better than very good, with straight corners which show minimal rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and the volume is entirely free of prior owner markings; some light spots of soiling to the binding a bit of bubbling to the cloth of the back board, the head and tail of the spine with professional restoration (name available upon request), evidence of prior erasure to the top fore-edge corner of the front free endpaper, some light foxing to the first and last few leaves and to the fore-edge of the text block; overall a very good, sturdy, first US edition.

___CITATION: Smith no. 6.

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