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THE WAY OF ALL FLESH
by SAMUEL BUTLER
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Near Fine/n/a
- Seller
-
West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
The Way of All Flesh, which was completed in 1884, is a semi-autobiographical novel by the English writer Samuel Butler (1835-1902). It is a blistering attack on the hypocrisy of the Victorian age and Butler didn't dare publish it during his lifetime--it was finally published in 1903. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked it as #12 on its list of 100 best English novels of the 20th century.
This copy was published in 1969 by the Classics Club. It is beige tweed boards with red and gold on the cover and spine. The tops of the pages are dyed red. 389 pages.
The book is unread and pristine. Its only flaw is that tiny bits of the red on the spine has rubbed off. (The dark mark across the cover is my shadow.)
NOTE: If you are OUTSIDE of North America, my quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other shipping options, please contact me.
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
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Details
- Bookseller
- Louise Aird
(CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 575
- Title
- THE WAY OF ALL FLESH
- Author
- SAMUEL BUTLER
- Format/Binding
- Perfect
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- n/a
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Walter J Black for the Classics Club
- Place of Publication
- United States
- Date Published
- 1969
- Pages
- 389
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Victorian age, 100 best English novels
- Bookseller catalogs
- British Society; British Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Louise Aird
All sales are final. If a book arrives damaged, please contact me.
About the Seller
Louise Aird
Biblio member since 2019
West Vancouver, British Columbia
About Louise Aird
Private individual who has been collecting books for 40 years.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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....
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