Books

Two octavo volumes (7 3/8 x 4 5/8 inches; 187 x 117 mm.). [4], 366; [2], 381, [1, blank] pp. Bound without the half-title in Volume I and without the half-title and fly-title in Volume II. Bound ca. 1858 in half dark green hard-grain morocco, ruled in blind, over marbled boards. Spines ruled and lettered in gilt in compartments. Marbled edges and endpapers. Scattered light foxing and soiling. Marginal paper-flaw to leaf H6 (pp. 123/124) of volume 1 (not affecting text). An excellent set of this rather scarce title. Scenes of Clerical Life brings together three short stories by George Eliot "The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton," "Mr Gilfil s Love-Story," and "Janet s Repentance." These were first published in Blackwood s Magazine between January to October of 1857, before they were brought together in a two-volume book form in 1858. Each story is set in the fictional Midlands town of Milby and considers the lives surrounding different clergymen. The stories "at once attracted praise for their domestic realism, pathos, and humour, and speculation about the identity of George Eliot , who was widely supposed to be a clergyman or possibly a clergyman s wife" (The Oxford Companion to English Literature). Mary Ann Evans (1819 1880), pen name George Eliot, was a prolific writer best known for her novels Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871 1872) and Daniel Deronda (1876), to name just a few. Baker & Ross A3.2. Parrish, p. 7. Sadleir 818. Wolff 2062.

Scenes of Clerical Life is the title under which George Eliot's first published works of fiction appeared in 1858, consisting of three novellas based on the lives of different clergymen. Originally published anonymously, these stories mark Eliot's debut into the world of literature.