Skip to content

The Way of all Flesh

The Way of all Flesh

The Way of all Flesh

The Way of all Flesh

by Butler, Samuel

  • Used
  • near fine
  • Paperback
  • first
Condition
Near Fine
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Lake Elsinore, California, United States
Item Price
£15.88
Or just £14.29 with a
Bibliophiles Club Membership
£2.38 Shipping to USA
Standard delivery: 10 to 14 days

More Shipping Options
Ask Seller a Question

Payment Methods Accepted

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Discover
  • PayPal

About This Item

Pocket Books. Near Fine. 1939. First Thus. Softcover. #8. 4th printing, September 1939. Although the former owner neatly penned his name on the title page this book appears to have been unopened. Firm, solid binding, bright pictorial cover, red publisher edge stain. and bright red endpages. Minor wear on two corners and along the edges, else an exceptional copy. Written between 1873 and 1884 but not published until 1903, a year after Butler’s death, this uninhibited satire savages Victorian bourgeois values. V. S. Pritchett said, “One thinks of it lying in Samuel Butler’s desk for thirty years, waiting to blow up the Victorian family and with it the whole great pillared and balustraded edifice of the Victorian novel.”; 16mo 6" - 7" tall .

Synopsis

The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler is a semi-autobiographical novel that attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. The story traces the history of the Pontifex family from the early eighteenth century until about 1880 and focuses, for the most part, on the life of young Ernest Pontifex, the novel’s protagonist. Yet Ernest isn’t born until 1835, in the book’s 17th chapter. Butler uses the first 16 chapters to provide a psychological portrait of the Pontifex family background as a means of allowing readers to understand what factors have gone into forming Ernest’s personality and the longevity of the chains of tradition he must break. Upon publication in 1903, the book seemed very much of its time, an early 20th century groundbreaker alongside the work of Sigmund Freud and Pablo Picasso. The Way of All Flesh seemed to celebrate the end of the Victorian age just as it was decidedly over. But in fact, Butler had written the book decades earlier, between 1873 and 1884, though he deemed it too shocking for publication during his lifetime. As a result, Richard Alexander Streatfeild, a friend of Butler’s, arranged the publication — as the author requested of him — a year after his death. Streatfeild proved to be a good friend indeed as The Way of All Flesh was ranked twelfth on the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

Read More: Identifying first editions of The Way of all Flesh

Reviews

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the specific copy you purchased!

Details

Bookseller
E Ridge fine Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
8842
Title
The Way of all Flesh
Author
Butler, Samuel
Format/Binding
Softcover
Book Condition
Used - Near Fine
Edition
First Thus
Binding
Paperback
Publisher
Pocket Books
Date Published
1939
Keywords
Classic Novel, Victorian Novel, Satire
Bookseller catalogs
Classics; Antiquarian & Collectible Books;

Terms of Sale

E Ridge fine Books

All books may be returned within 30 days of for the purchased price. Please call or email seller prior to return.

About the Seller

E Ridge fine Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2007
Lake Elsinore, California
Ask Seller a Question

About E Ridge fine Books

E Ridge Fine Books (2006) is an independent online bookstore and a member of IOBA. All books are carefully listed providing a description of condition and content

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Edges
The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
Unopened
A state in which all or some of the pages of a book have not been separated from the adjacent pages, caused by a traditional...
Title Page
A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...

Frequently asked questions

This Book’s Categories

tracking-