The Noble Jilt

London: Constable & Company Limited, 1923. First and Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. First printing, one of 500 copies (unnumbered), octavo size, 205 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 work, "The Noble Jilt", is the last of Trollope's works to be published, although it was written in 1850 (fairly early in his career). It is one of only two plays Trollope produced, and although the play itself was not published until 1923, "Trollope adapted 'The Noble Jilt' as a novel entitled, 'Can You Forgive Her?' which explored the success of traditional Victorian marriages, and questioned the importance of the sexual aspect of marriage, something which would have been a relatively dangerous thing to do with his Victorian audience" (n.b., from an online article by Kara E. Flynn posted on April 23, 2015, on the web site of the University of Puget Sound).

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full red cloth over boards, both boards intricately decorated with embossed patterns, gilt lettering on the spine, top edge gilt, fore- and bottom edges uncut, yellow coated endpapers, limitation statement on the verso of the title page, with a lengthy preface by Michael Sadleir (1888-1957, a well-known and respected author and literary historian specializing in Trollope); octavo size (9" by 6"), pagination: [i-iv] v-xix [xx-xxiii], [1-2] 3-182.

___CONDITION: Near fine, with clean boards, straight corners with a hint of wear to the cloth but not rubbed through, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the yellow endpapers clean and bright, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; the head of the spine gently bumped and the gilt top edge slightly dulled; overall a wonderful example.

___CITATION: Irwin p. 49.

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