THE LEGEND OF THE WANDERING JEW REIMAGINED

Wallace, Lew (1827-1905)

The Prince of India [True First Edition] [The Wandering Jew Mythos] [Decorative Gilt Cloth]

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1893. First Edition, First Printing.
LEW WALLACE’S EPIC OF THE LAST DAYS OF CONSTANTINOPLE & THE FALL OF BYZANTIUM IN GILT CLOTH.
Following the stratospheric success of Ben-Hur, Lew Wallace spent years in Constantinople as a U.S. Minister researching this epic. It is a profound exploration of the 'Wandering Jew' legend, reimagined as a Prince of India navigating the fall of the Byzantine Empire.

KEY FEATURES 
+++ Visuals: Stunning pictorial navy-blue cloth featuring an elaborate cover design of a rosary suspended from a crescent moon, stamped in silver, red, and gilt. 
+++ Issue Point: True First Issue, noted by the absence of the dedication page in Volume I (which was added in the second printing). 
+++ Content: A sweeping historical romance involving the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II and a secret plot to bring about the downfall of Constantinople in 1453. 
+++ Imprint: New York: Harper and Brothers, 1893. 
+++ Specs: Two-volume set; 12mo (6.75 inches tall); 502; 578 pages.

CONDITION: Very Good+ -- Bindings are tight, square, and notably bright. The silver and red stamping on the covers—which often oxidizes or rubs away—remains vivid. Tiny spotting on the spines; light, even age-toning to the text block. A remarkably clean and crisp set of a title usually found in much more 'tired' condition.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE --
Lew Wallace was more than a novelist; he was a Union General and a diplomat whose stay in Turkey provided him with unprecedented access to the historical sites of the Byzantine collapse. The Prince of India was his attempt to unify his diplomatic experiences with his fascination for religious mysticism and the 'Wandering Jew'—a figure that has appeared in Western literature for centuries as a symbol of eternal wandering and hidden wisdom.

While it never reached the pop-culture heights of Ben-Hur, this work is considered by scholars to be Wallace's most complex and researched narrative. It captures the 19th-century obsession with 'The Orient' and the intricate political weaving of the late Crusades era, presented in a binding that is a masterpiece of Victorian industrial book design.

SUBJECTS: Lew Wallace, The Wandering Jew, Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire, Mehmed II, 19th Century Fiction, Decorative Cloth, Religious Legends, Historical Fiction, Victorian Literature, Occult Legends.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE BAL 20819; Wright (III) 5722.

Item #21577

Price: $95.00