12mo. [2], 176pp. With an engraved frontispiece and an additional engraved title page. Original publisher's gilt-tooled green roan-backed marbled boards. Extremities worn and cocked. Publisher's advertisements to endpapers, blind-stamp of John Fowles to front blank fly-leaf, early inked ownership inscription to head of p.1 (Anne Graham / Lisburn), occasional soiling to text.

Mrs. Barbara Hofland’s (bap. 1770, d. 1844) popular children’s story, a spiritual successor to her equally well-received The history of an officer's widow (1809). First published in 1812 as The history of the clergyman's widow, and her young family, a plethora of editions, under numerous titles and imprints, would appear up to 1870.

John Fowles (1926-2005), English novelist, notable works include The Magus (1965) and The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969).