Books

Eliot, George. Scenes of Clerical Life. London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1858. First Edition, first printing. 747 pages total, 366 in vol. I and 381 in vol. II. 7.5" x 5". The earliest published fiction by English novelist Mary Ann Evans, under her pen name George Eliot. Scenes of Clerical Life is comprised of three short stories; "The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton", "Mr. Gilfil's Love Story", and "Janet's Repentance", which were published first in Blackwood's Magazine and then in book form by Blackwood and Sons. The stories touch on conflicts between established and nonconformist Protestant clergy and social issues such as poverty and alcoholism. Eliot would go on to write seven full length novels, among them Middlemarch, now considered one of the greatest 19th century English works of fiction. Uniformly bound in deep turquoise leather by the famous binder Bayntun. Title, author, and date stamped in gilt on spines. Douglas Clan book plate with family crest…

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.