Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. This item is unavailable.Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Unabridged, 8.5" x 11" edition (21.59 x 27.94 cm) with small type (9-point) and three column format on cream paper.
In 1876, former Union general Law Wallace (1827-1905) sets out to a meeting of Civil War veterans. In the train to Indianapolis, he talks with Ingersoll, a fellow veteran and an atheist. After this talk, Wallace's own ignorance of religion strikes him as problematic. He resolves to study the whole matter:
A number of practical suggestions assailed me: How should I conduct the study? Delve into theology? I shuddered. The theology of the professors had always seemed to me an indefinitely deep pit filled with the bones of unprofitable speculations... Next the subject was considered dry. Was there no way of making it the least bit light and savory? No incidental employment or task which could give it a color of pastime, and, while compelling thorough investigation, keep me interested? Then it came!
Ben-Hur was first published in 1880. Contemporary literary critics found its romanticism passé, but readers resonated with its mix of romanticism, spirituality, and action.
The story is set in the Holy Land between the reigns of Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) and Nero (54-68 AD). It depicts the adventures of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish nobleman falsely accused of an attempted assassination. Trying to find his way between revenge and material success, Judah realizes that serving a spiritual king could be a third option.
It is perfectly true that Ben-Hur appealed chiefly to the unsophisticated an unliterary. People who had read much else of worth rarely read Ben-Hur.— The New York Times, 1905

Lewis "Lew" Wallace (April 10, 1827 – February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is best known for his historical adventure story, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, a bestselling novel that has been called "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century." His military career included service in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. He was appointed Indiana's adjutant general and commanded the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Wallace, who attained the rank of major general, participated in the battle of Fort Donelson, the battle of Shiloh, and the battle of Monocacy. He also served on the military commission for the trials of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, and presided over the military investigation of Henry Wirz, a Confederate commandant of the Andersonville prison camp. He resigned from the U.S. Army in November 1865 and briefly served as a major general in the Mexican army, before returning to the United States. Wallace was appointed governor of the New Mexico Territory (1878–81) and served as U.S. minister to the Ottoman Empire (1881–85). He retired to his home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he continued to write until his death in 1905.