Books

One of 2,101 copies printed. Three crown octavo volumes (20cm); re-bound in full tan calf by Brentano's; spines in six compartments with raised bands, gilt floral devices, contrasting morocco spine labels, and gilt turn-ins; top edges gilt; sample of original cloth bound in at rear of each volume (Baker & Ross's variant 'A'); [viii], 325; [viii], 374; [viii], 333pp; publisher's 16pp ads conforming to first edition (paginated), but bound into Vol.1 instead of Vol.3 by binder. Light wear along lower board edges, with small circular stain to lower right corner of front board of Vol.3; clean throughout, and complete with all half-titles - very Near Fine. Handsomely-bound copy of the author's first novel. BAKER & ROSS A4.1; SADLEIR 812.

Published in 1859, 'Adam Bede' is the first novel by George Eliot. It was an immediate success and praised for its realistic and rustic depiction of 19th-century rural life.