The Cock and Anchor by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Description: The Cock and AnchorLe Fanu, Joseph SheridanPublished by Downey & Co, London, 1895 First single volume edition, later printing. Original green cloth, lettered and decorated in gilt to the front panel and spine. 8vo - 358,[2] pp. The Introduction by Le Fanu's son, Brinsley Le Fanu, explains the rather complicated publishing history of this novel. The introduction is dated 1895 but the Crawford bibliography states 1896. Le Fanu's anonymously published first book. "A dreadful story of the conspiracy of a number of preternaturally wicked and inhuman villains to ruin a young spendthrift baronet, and to compel his sister to marry one of themselves. The threads of the story are woven with considerable skill. The tale, a gloomy one throughout, reaches its climax in a scene of intense and concentrated excitement" (Brown, p. 165). "... a most excellent 'costume' romance of old Dublin in the eighteenth century, abounding with exciting adventures, highway robberies, murders, and breathless escapes. It was written of course in the prevailing popular mode of Ainsworth and G. W. M. Reynolds, but Le Fanu was able to add his own distinctive original touch by reason of his archaeological knowledge and the Irish setting which the celebrated English writers of his school had not traversed. His scenic descriptions, aided by moonlight and storm, are compact of romance, and here he showed his first evidence of clever characterization. Blarden was an early study of implacable villainy such as later was presented in full blast in the persons of Dangerfield, Stanley Lake, and Silas Ruthyn, while Miss Martha in a way fore-ran the terrible Frenchwoman in UNCLE SILAS" (Ellis, p. 155). Brown, Ireland in Fiction 904. Ellis, p. 184. Loeber and Loeber L 102. Sadleir 1373. Wolff 4010. A very nice copy, solid and bright. Some minor mottling to the front board edge. Illustrated title page. Very Good. Made with quality, heavier gauge paper thereby making the book heavier. NOTE: I have a myriad of other rare and desirable books that are about to be listed, both antiquarian and limited edition - most all supernatural in nature - PLEASE KEEP AN EYE ON MY LISTINGS - Thank you!

Price: 200 USD

Location: Covington, Georgia

End Time: 2025-01-17T01:08:21.000Z

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