Skip to content

The Way of all Flesh [Modern Library 13.1]

The Way of all Flesh [Modern Library 13.1]

Click for full-size.

The Way of all Flesh [Modern Library 13.1]

by BUTLER, SAMUEL

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Very good. Light rubbing to extremities, especially at crown & foot of spine; traces of soiling to covers. Contemporary ownershi
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Item Price
€123.82
Or just €111.44 with a
Bibliophiles Club Membership
€6.62 Shipping to USA
Standard delivery: 4 to 8 days

More Shipping Options

Payment Methods Accepted

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Discover
  • PayPal

About This Item

New York: Boni and Liveright, 1918. Early Printing. Hardcover. Very good. Light rubbing to extremities, especially at crown & foot of spine; traces of soiling to covers. Contemporary ownership signature to front pastedown, pleasant bookseller's ticket to front free endpaper. Binding sound, text otherwise unmarked & bright.. 16mo. 4.5 x 6.75 in. [vi], 410 pp. ML Binding Style 1, dark brown leatherette ('limp croft leather'), with gothic Boni & Liveright device in black on upper cover, black title to spine; with green & brown marbleized endpapers and catalogue of 50 titles (C4) preceding title page, indicating a spring 1918 publication date. This is an extremely rare & unrecorded binding variant: whereas Modern Library titles published in this first binding style are by design titled & ornamented in gilt, this binding is peculiarly stamped in black. A most welcome addition to any ML collection.

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 [Modern Library 13.1]

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
Irving Book Company US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
251
Title
The Way of all Flesh [Modern Library 13.1]
Author
BUTLER, SAMUEL
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Very good. Light rubbing to extremities, especially at crown & foot of spine; traces of soiling to covers. Contemporary ownershi
Quantity Available
1
Edition
Early Printing
Publisher
Boni and Liveright
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
1918

Terms of Sale

Irving Book Company

All items subject to prior sale.

About the Seller

Irving Book Company

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2021
Asheville, North Carolina

About Irving Book Company

Classical, Catholic, Southern, Photographic, Poetic, Scholarly, and early Modern Library Editions, &c.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Rubbing
Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
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...
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...
Device
Especially for older books, a printer's device refers to an identifying mark, also sometimes called a printer's mark, on the...

This Book’s Categories

tracking-