Uncle John. A Novel. New Edition
by MELVILLE (George John Whyte-):
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
LONDON, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Chapman and Hall..., 1874. FIRST ONE-VOLUME EDITION. 8vo, 170 x 108 mms., pp. [iv], 329 [330 blank], contemporary half hard-grain red morocco, marbled boards, spine ornately gilt, marbled edges and end-papers. Inscribed "W. G. Marshall/ Melton 1880" on recto of front free end-paper A very good copy. The entry in ODNB follows the style above, while library holdings list him as Whyte-Melville (George John). The novel was first published in three volumes, followed in a common practice for 19th century publishers, by a separate one-volume edition. In The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction (2nd ed., 2009), John Sutherland writes, "A breezily attractive novel in WhyteMelville's sub-Trollopian style. The narrative opens with a January country-house party at Plumpton Priors. The host, (Uncle) John Dennison, is a hunting man. Among his guests are a cricketing parson, Algernon Lexley, Uncle John's niece, Annie, a young Etonian, Perigord, a bored man of the world, Percy Mortimer, and Laura Blair, a woman with a past. There are some hunting scenes but the novel's main action concerns Lexley's proposal to Laura. She tells him that she is in fact the widow of a gambler killed by pirates. They nevertheless marry and Laura's first husband, Delancy, unexpectedly returns. The couple separate, but are later reunited. Delancy is killed trying to escape from prison (Algernon converts him to Christianity on his cell deathbed). The other, quieter strand of the novel follows the courtship of Annie. The end of the novel is darkened by the death (or 'runin' as he calls it) of the amiable Uncle John." Copies of this 1874 Chapman and Hall one-volume edition appear to be uncommon in Copac libraries, with Aberdeen having a copy, while BL, NLS, and Aberdeen have copies of the three-volume edition. Curiously, the three-volume edition is also found in five continental libraries.
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Price Antiquarian Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 8421
- Title
- Uncle John. A Novel. New Edition
- Author
- MELVILLE (George John Whyte-):
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- London: Chapman and Hall..., 1874
- Keywords
- fiction printing history literature
- Bookseller catalogs
- fiction;
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
John Price Antiquarian Books
Payment by cheque, credit card, cash. New customers will be invoiced pro forma. Books may be returned within two weeks for any reason; refund within 1 month for any reason; negotiable after that, but no returns after one year.
About the Seller
John Price Antiquarian Books
Biblio member since 2006
LONDON
About John Price Antiquarian Books
I work from home, but I am happy to see customers at almost any time by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- 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...
- Recto
- The page on the right side of a book, with the term Verso used to describe the page on the left side.
- Marbled boards
- ...
- G
- Good describes the average used and worn book that has all pages or leaves present. Any defects must be noted. (as defined by AB...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...