HAPPINESS: A Tale, For The Grave and The Gay. In Two Volumes. 2 Volume Set Complete.

London: Printed for Francis Westley and Sold By Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown,. Very Good- with no dust jacket. 1821. Third Edition. Hardcover. A 2 Volume set identically bound in Half green Leather and marbled boards, and with marbled page edges. Four raised bands to the spine and with 2 gilt lettered title and number labels to each. GIlt decorated compartments to each spine. The number label to Volume Two is chipped with loss to the edges of the label, and the covers and marbled boards to both vols are a little rubbed to the extremities, but it looks a handsome set. See Images. 301 pages plus the title page to Volume One, and & 312 pages plus the title page to Volume Two. A gift note in faded ink dated 1871 to each volume on the second blank prelim page / endpapers. On one page 207/8 in volume one the edge is dusty/chipped and there is a light stain/wrinkling on both sides of the page mainly to the blank inner gutters (possibly loosened and been re-inserted at some point in the past) o/w overall a VG set. A 'Society Novel' ( Wolff 7483) partly epistolary (letters between women) with with some blocks of theological and philosophical discussion." . "A 'Bildungsroman' in which the heroine, Louisa Delaval, rejects the 'treacherous' world of fashion, and finds that happiness lies in religion. 'If the Bible were a romance It would be the greatest favourite that our circulating libraries could furnish'. (Wolff 7480). Interestingly published in 1822, there was "An admonitory epistle to the author of 'Happiness : A tale for the grave and the gay', in which the errors and misrepresentations of that work are exposed and reprobated by one Christopher Sly. So it must have caused some controversy in its day. "It was at this interesting period, that Louisa Delaval was introduced to Julia, and having learnt her affecting story, she felt, towards her, all the fondness of sisterly affection. Her delicate and unwearied attentions won upon the lovely sufferer, and the attachment soon became reciprocal..." . An Attractive Early Victorian Two-Decker. See Images; each volume 8vo 7.5" - 9" tall. .