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Second American trade edition. Hard cover, 8vo in cream paper-covered, chamfered edged boards blocked with Italianate border frame in gold and red, with fleur de lis motto and title to front board in red and black. Spine banded in gold with faux compartments, the title and volume number appearing uppermost. Top edge gilt, red silk ribbon markers, 60 labeled, tissue-guarded photogravure illustrations. **CONDITION: Very Good. Christmas gift inscription dated 1891 to ffep. in old ink. V.1: Rear hinge split. Front hinge with inch long split to cloth at front joint at head and foot repaired. Vintage lithographed illustration from the story (unnamed periodical) applied folded to inside rear cover. V. 2 : Both hinges intact. Mildly age toned and now protected with mylar. A good reading copy of this historical fiction novel of the Italian Renaissance, set in Florence during the turbulent years of the late 15th century. The characters are caught up in the growing cultural conservatism unleashed by the ascendency of the Dominican cleric Savonarola, whose demands for the public destruction of art, books, and other possessions led to the original Bonfires of the Vanities. The humanists, under the auspices of the de Medici family, are represented in the plot by the title character, the scholarly Ramola Di Bardi and her family; she must navigate an unhappy alliance with her husband, whose quest for political power in Florence puts her in danger. The novel is a wonderful introduction to the place and time, and has much to do with books and ideas manipulated for political gain. English Author George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), 1819-80, originally had this work published in book form in 1863, having been serialized in the Cornhill Magazine during the year prior, July 1862-Aug. 1863. Watson 902.
Ref: FICT19 9418
$65.00