8vo. In three volumes. viii, 315pp; [4], 324pp; [2], 326pp. Contemporary gilt-tooled half-calf, marbled boards, contrasting dark green morocco lettering-pieces. Rubbed, with surface loss to joints and edges, spines sunned. Light scattered spotting.

The first edition of Sybil, one of English Prime Minister and Conservative Politician Benjamin Disraeli's (1804-1881) most politically sensational books of the early Victorian era, and the prelude to his socially reforming ministries. With characters and themes drawn from contemporary investigation into social welfare, such as the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Children's Employment (1842), Disraeli sought to address the 'Condition-of-England question' proposed by Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle the previous decade, presenting a portrait of working-class English life defined by industrial exploitation and governmental neglect. Along with the other novels of a trilogy, Coningsby (1844) and Tancred (1847), Sybil can be regarded as the first truly political English novel, and is the origin of the term 'One Nation Tory'.

Provenance: From the recently dispersed library of the Williams family, at Bridehead, Dorset.