Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the first publication of Middlemarch!

Per Virginia Woolf Middlemarch is “one of the few English novels written for grown-up people". George Eliot’s story of Dorothea Brooke is broad in scope and astute in understanding the fine complexities of both personal psychologies and societal strictures.

A true classic, seen here in three compact volumes, practically bound by their owner for travel and use. They hold the complete first edition set of Middlemarch, published by William Blackwood and Sons in 1871 and 1872 in eight parts. They do not include the advertisements, however the errata slip is included in Book IV. The parts, called Books, were sold individually in paper covers and later bound as a set into these three volumes.

Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1871-2. Bound in three volumes: Tan cloth over boards. Black labels with gilt lettering “Middlemarch/G. Eliot” and I. II; II. III; IV. Edges faintly red-speckled. The pages have been trimmed to approximately 17 x 11cm, with the translation rights statement to the bottom of title pages cropped or partially cropped. First edition. Errata slip present in Book IV and the three errors are seen in Books I, II, and III. These errors were corrected before the 1873 re-printing. Some spotting, notably to the first few pages of each volume. Slight lean to the thicker volumes.

Volume I. II: 17 x 13 x 5 cm. Book I Miss Brooke, [i-v]vii,212; Book II Old and young, [213-215], 216-410; Book III Waiting for death, [1-3] 4-175, light stains 31-39.

Volume II. III: 2. 17 x 13 x 5 cm. Book IV Three love problems, [177-79] errata slip [180] 181-377[378]; Book V The dead hand, [1-3]4–191[192]; Book VI The widow and the wife, [193-5] 196-384.

Volume IV: 17 x 12.5 x 3.5 cm. Book VII Two temptations, [1-3]4-176; Book VIII. Sunset and sunrise, [177-179]180-371.