Saintsbury, Grant (1845 - 1933)

Letters from Sir Charles Grandison - Selected with a Biographical Introduction and Connecting Notes [18th-Century Literature] [Victorian Literary Criticism] [Illustrated Classics]

New York and London: Macmillan and Co & George Allen, 1896. Illustrations by Chris Hammond. Hardcover.

Victorian illustrated selection from Richardson’s Sir Charles Grandison, edited with commentary by George Saintsbury. Handsome two-volume set with gilt-stamped cloth and sixty plates by Chris Hammond.

A finely produced Victorian scholarly selection from Samuel Richardson’s epistolary novel The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753), edited with introduction, commentary, and connecting summaries by George Saintsbury. Issued as a two-volume set, the work represents Saintsbury’s thoughtful mediation between eighteenth-century moral fiction and late-Victorian literary taste, presenting Grandison as both a historical text and a living literary character.

Original dark green cloth with stamped spine titles and an attractive gilt depiction of swordplay on the front boards; all edges gilt. Duodecimo; 7.25 inches tall; Vol. I: ix, 303 pages; Vol. II: v, 319 pages. Printed by the Ballantyne Press. Illustrated throughout with sixty plates across both volumes by Chris Hammond.

Bindings are tight and square. Text is clean with light, even toning. Minimal shelf handling wear overall. Minor, localized puckering to the cloth at the lower rear corner of Volume II. Bookplate of William Henry Bond to the front pastedown. A very well-preserved set. 

Saintsbury’s selection preserves the epistolary structure of Richardson’s original while condensing the narrative through editorial summary where needed, making the work accessible to late-nineteenth-century readers without sacrificing its moral and psychological scope. The result is both a literary distillation and a commentary on changing standards of taste, sentiment, and social conduct.

The illustrations by Chris Hammond, one of the foremost book illustrators of the Victorian period, lend the volumes visual continuity and energy, reinforcing character, gesture, and social nuance in a manner consistent with contemporary illustrated classics.

Contextual Significance: George Saintsbury was among the most influential English literary historians and critics of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, known for combining scholarly authority with a lively, readable style. His engagement with Richardson reflects the continued canonical status of eighteenth-century moral fiction at the end of the nineteenth century, particularly in response to earlier critiques and parodies such as Fielding’s Tom Jones. This edition stands as a representative example of Victorian editorial practice, illustration, and book design applied to canonical English literature.

Subjects: George Saintsbury, Samuel Richardson, Sir Charles Grandison, Epistolary Novel, Victorian Editing, Moral Fiction, Chris Hammond Illustration, English Literary Canon, Literary Criticism, Illustrated Classics, Eighteenth-Century Literature.

Item #21346

Price: $175.00