Walter Besant — Fifty Years Ago

London, Chatto & Windus, 1888. First edition. Cloth. A first edition copy of this historical study of Britain in 1837 by the novelist and historian Sir Walter Besant. A first edition copy of this work in the publisher's original cloth binding. Top edge gilt.Bookplate of Alfred Snowsill to the front paste down, dated 1904. Illustrated with a frontispiece, a title page vignette, forty-seven plates and numerous in-text illustrations. Collated, complete. Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901) was an English novelist and historian. In this work, he explores British life in 1837, including life in schools and universities, at home, in factories and mines, among the middle-classes, in the law and justice system, in the taverns and theatres, and with particular mention of London. This social history gives an interesting late nineteenth-century perspective on the early nineteenth-century in Britain. A thirty-two page publisher's catalogue to the rear. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally generally smart, with fading to the spine and small marks to the boards. Shelf wear to the extremities. Front hinge is slightly strained but held firmly by cords. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are generally bright and clean, with some spotting to the first and last few pages. Plates facing pages 16 and 100 are detached but intact. Very Good . Ill.: Not Stated. Very Good .