{"product_id":"the-life-of-daniel-defoe-thomas-wright-1st-edition","title":"The Life of Daniel Defoe, Thomas Wright — 1st Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublication:\u003c\/b\u003e London, Cassell and Company, Limited, 1894\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormatting:\u003c\/b\u003e 8vo, pp. xxiv, 432.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Report:\u003c\/b\u003e Very Good. Bound in half calf over marbled boards, the volume remains structurally sound with tight hinges and a firm text block. The leather exhibits expected rubbing to the extremities, most notably at the corners and along the joints, accompanied by mild fading to the spine, though the gilt tooling and maroon morocco title label remain bright and highly legible. The marbled boards show minor surface scuffing but no significant loss. Internally, the book is well-preserved; there is scattered foxing primarily confined to the preliminary leaves, the frontispiece tissue guard, and the pastedowns, leaving the main body of text clean and bright.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCatalogue Note:\u003c\/b\u003e This is a first edition of Thomas Wright's exhaustive biography of the celebrated English novelist and pamphleteer, Daniel Defoe, issued by Cassell and Company in 1894. The volume features an engraved frontispiece and is dedicated to the contemporary biographer George A. Aitken.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe copy boasts a notable provenance, bearing the armorial bookplate of Sir Benjamin Sands Johnson (1865–1937) on the front pastedown, featuring the heraldic motto \u003ci\u003eJuvat me Servire\u003c\/i\u003e. Sir Benjamin was a prominent civic figure who served as the High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1923 and held the position of Director-General of the Royal Army Clothing Department during the First World War. While standard cloth-bound iterations of this first edition occasionally surface on the open market, contemporary half-calf bindings with documented provenance are significantly scarcer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn engaging and exhaustive late-Victorian biography of Daniel Defoe, the brilliant yet controversial mind behind \u003ci\u003eRobinson Crusoe\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMoll Flanders\u003c\/i\u003e. Thomas Wright seeks to pull back the curtain on Defoe's tumultuous life, stepping beyond his legacy as a mere pamphleteer to reveal the fiercely ambitious, deeply flawed, and fascinating man underneath. Drawing on extensive contemporary sources, this work explores his time in Newgate Prison, his complex political machinations, and the real-life inspirations behind his most enduring literary masterpieces.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadhursts Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54552138383699,"sku":"4979","price":70.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/1469\/6787\/files\/20260731_002031.jpg?v=1786440454","url":"https:\/\/broadhurstsbooks.com\/products\/the-life-of-daniel-defoe-thomas-wright-1st-edition","provider":"Broadhursts Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}