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Fiction from Pre-Civil War America - A Christian Inspirational Classic from the Victorian Era. This is "Lights and Shadows of a Pastor's Life" by S. H. Elliott. It was published in New York by Derby & Jackson in 1857. Samuel Hayes Elliott wrote several homiletical moral stories purporting to recount the experiences of a Protestant minister. People at the time sought to identify the scene and characters of the novel with actual locales and persons in New England and New York State (the author sets part of the story in Saratoga); but it was all fiction. It is possible that much of it was actually inspired by real persons and events, but the book remains a solid fiction. **************************** SERIES : Library of Popular Tales (on spine only) TITLE : Lights and Shadows of a Pastor's Life AUTHOR: Samuel Hayes Elliott (1809 - 1869) YEAR : 1857 PLACE : New York IMPRINT : Derby & Jackson EDITION : Second Edition and First Thus … ie: Copyright was taken out in 1855 and a book was published in 1856 under the title "Dreams and Realities in the Life of a Pastor and Teacher" -- this 1857 book is likely the same book retitled. (The book was probably retitled to avoid identification with hostile critical reviews of the original book [which, see below]. ) STATUS : OP - Out of Print PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Trade hardcover; Has an engraved frontispiece; contains a brief Preface; 439 pages; approximately 4 3/4" x 7 1/4" (12mo); red cloth with title, etc. and decorative embellishments in gold on spine; front and rear boards are treated with a decorative geometric design stamped in blind; pale yellow end-papers ************** CONDITION - NEAR VERY GOOD - BOARDS - Spine extremities are compressed and much frayed, with small loss to cloth -- joints, front and rear are moderately abraded with a small worn spot on front joint --- title, etc is still fairly bright; moderate rub and abrasion to boards, with scattered spotting and weathering; corners are bumped with attendant splitting of cloth; text-block edges are toned and spotted . edges have been cleaned. / BINDING - Solid. / INTERIOR : End-papers are toned, with some edge creasing, small tears and nicking; paper over rear hinge is partially split; small loss of paper to top fore-edge corner of rfep; a couple of small letters (z) are penciled on rear paste-down - else clean; the Paper throughout the interior is toned and heavily foxed - with scattered spotting and smudging, (but nothing egregious) This is most noticeable, especially, on the leaves approaching the covers. (Black spot shown in the picture is possibly soot deposited from oil lamps). / DUST-JACKET - None issued ************** A contemporary review, quite hostile in tone, reviewed the book thusly: Ohe jam satis ! The public have had quite enough of the experiences and trials and calamities of pastors and pastors' wives. The interest of that species of literature is exhausted. The demonstrations of clerical morbid anatomy never were very instructive or very dignified, and have now become exceedingly tedious. We shrink from the duty of examining a book when its title hints that we are to be treated to a new feast of pastoral miseries and misfortunes. The volume before us has not in that direction realized our fears, but is quite as objectionable in another direction. It is rather of the gossiping than the whining class, and, like Miranda, prattles something too wildly. The slight eccentricity of form does not enliven much the prevailing heaviness of the story, nor do the personal allusions succeed in provoking curiosity to identify the characters in the book with real men and women. The substance of these Dreams and Realities may be stated as follows: The Rev. Ubert Castlereagh, in a fit of inspired benevolence, thinks that he is not doing enough in his small country parish, and resolves to open a school, and be an educator as well as a pastor. The result is the Lindenvale Institute . This establishment seems to have been somew. Seller Inventory # 409
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