1894 · First edition · Complete four-volume issue

Great Men and Famous Women

A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches

Edited by Charles F. Horne

The complete four-volume first edition of Charles F. Horne’s monumental illustrated gallery of more than two hundred historical lives.

Published in New York in 1894, Great Men and Famous Women was conceived as a cultivated household museum in print: more than two hundred lives arranged across four thematic volumes—Soldiers and Sailors; Statesmen and Sages; Workmen and Heroes; and Artists and Authors.

Its attraction lies as much in the visual programme as in the biographies. Full-page engravings and photogravures move freely across antiquity, empire, religion, literature, science and art, making the set a rich document of how the nineteenth century assembled and illustrated a universal historical canon.

This is the complete four-volume first-edition issue in substantial half-leather bindings with gilt spines. The bindings display considerable age and use, but the set retains commanding shelf presence and the illustrated interiors appear notably fresh. It is an evocative survivor of the grand illustrated reference library of the 1890s.

Publication

New York · Selmar Hess, 1894

Language

English

Format

Four folio volumes · Contemporary half leather over textured cloth · Profusely illustrated with engravings and photogravures

Completeness

Complete in four volumes: Soldiers and Sailors; Statesmen and Sages; Workmen and Heroes; Artists and Authors.

Condition

Good antiquarian condition. The bindings are substantially rubbed, with surface loss and wear at the spine ends and joints; the gilt titling remains legible. The illustrated interiors appear generally clean and well preserved from the supplied photographs.

Provenance

Provenance details available on request.

Rarity

The complete four-volume first-edition issue is increasingly difficult to find intact. Its scale, extensive illustration and handsome period presentation make it especially appealing as a decorative and historical library set.

Status

On request