THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET by Trollope, Anthony - 1866

1866. Thomas, George H.. [32 parts in great condition] With Illustrations by George H. Thomas. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1866-1867. [In 32 weekly serial parts.] Original cream wrappers decorated in black, orange and blue. First Edition, in 32 weekly serial parts, of the sixth and last of the Barsetshire Novels. Trollope observed in his autobiography, I regard this as the best novel I have written. I was never quite satisfied with the development of the plot, which consisted in the loss of a cheque, of a charge made against a clergyman for stealing it, and of absolute uncertainty on the part of the clergyman himself as to the manner in which the cheque found its way into his hands. THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET first appeared in these 32 weekly parts, beginning on December 1, 1866 and ending on July 6, 1867; included in each part is a full-page plate plus an opening vignette, by George H. Thomas. Also included in the 16th and 32nd parts are the preliminary leaves for binding up the parts into two volumes; each bound volume was also available directly from the publisher in March and July 1867 respectively. This set includes all of the continuously-paginated Smith Elder ads (on lilac paper) that were inserted at the front of the 32 parts. The only variations between this set and the one described by Sadleir is that Part 1 does not have the 4 pp of "Select Library" ads (usually missing), Part 5 does not have the 2 pp ad inset, Part 6 likewise does not have the 4 pp ad inset, and Part 10 has 2 pp rather than 4 pp of ads at the rear (in each of these cases, it appears evident that such ads never were present). Condition is quite remarkable -- just about fine. The wrappers have scarcely any wear or soil, the spines have not had to be repaired or restored, and there is no foxing on wrappers, text or plates. One seldom encounters a Trollope set of parts in this condition today. Sadleir (TROLLOPE) pp 78-81. Housed in two (edge-worn) morocco-backed slipcases.