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New York, Hurst & Company [Published Date: No date listed, circa 1917]. Hardcover, 464 pp. Complete novel in one volume With cover art by Earl Christy and Frontis-piece illustration of George Eliot. Title page states "The Only Large Type Edition" although the type in not large-type.
In acceptable condition/ NO dust jacket. Green cloth covered boards with illustration pasted on front cover. Covers have a light bumping and scuffing to edges. Cover illustration has moderate age spotting and soiling. Spine is cracked and starting to pull away from text block at page 3 of the book, but it is still attached and remainder of text block is tight. Pages lightly aged but otherwise unmarked. NOT Ex-Library. An acceptable reading copy only. The cover artist, F. Earl Christy ( 1882-1961 ), was a popular illustrator based in New York. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Arts from 1905-1907, and became well known for his romantically idealized portraits of women. His work can be found on the covers of vintage magazines, sheet music, and book illustrations. Felix Holt, the Radical (1866) is a social novel written by George Eliot about political disputes in a small English town at the time of the First Reform Act of 1832. [Plot summary from Penguin] When the young nobleman Harold Transome returns to England from the colonies with a self-made fortune, he scandalizes the town of Treby Magna with his decision to stand for Parliament as a Radical. But after the idealistic Felix Holt also returns to the town, the difference between Harold's opportunistic values and Holt's profound beliefs becomes apparent. Forthright, brusque and driven by a firm desire to educate the working-class, Felix is at first viewed with suspicion by many, including the elegant but vain Esther Lyon, the daughter of the local clergyman. As she discovers, however, his blunt words conceal both passion and deep integrity. Soon the romantic and over-refined Esther finds herself overwhelmed by a heart-wrenching decision: whether to choose the wealthy Transome as a husband, or the impoverished but honest Felix Holt.