The Pilgrim's Progress

London: S W Partridge and Co, 1888. Leather. Near Fine. 9.5" by 8". Frederick Barnard; J D Linton; W Small . An attractive copy of Bunyan's most influential work, this Christian allegorical tale is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature. Containing sixty-two illustrations by Frederick Barnard, J. D. Linton, W. Small, etc. engraved by Dalziel Brothers, including frontispiece. Sixth edition. With introductory notes by the Reverend William Landels. Bunyan began his work while in the Bedfordshire county gaol for violations of the Conventicle Act, which prohibited the holding of religious services outside the auspices of the established Church of England. Early Bunyan scholars like John Brown believed The Pilgrim's Progress was begun in Bunyan's second shorter imprisonment for six months in 1675, but more recent scholars like Roger Sharrock believe that it was begun during Bunyan's initial, more lengthy imprisonment from 1660-1672 right after he had written his spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. The explicit Protestant theology of The Pilgrim's Progress made it much more popular than its predecessors. Bunyan's plain style breathes life into the abstractions of the anthropomorphized temptations and abstractions that Christian encounters and with whom he converses on his course to Heaven. In a green calf binding. Externally very smart, with just a few marks to the boards. Internally, firmly bound. Pages have some spotting to the first and last few pages, and to the textblock edge, but are otherwise bright. Near Fine