1896 Rare Book - Peter Ibbetson, A strange tale of Communication through Dreams

Author: George du Maurier. Illustrated by the Author.
Title: Peter Ibbetson.
Publisher: London, James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1896.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 x 6 inches.
Pages: 381 pages.
Binding: A very handsome Near Fine contemporary full blue morocco binding, finely executed, with raised bands, gilt compartments, and gilt lettering on the spine. Elegant geometric onlay design to the boards in lighter blue morocco, framed with gilt rules (hinges fine - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt. An exceptionally tasteful and well-preserved binding, likely executed shortly after publication.
Content: Near fine content (bright, tight and clean - as shown). A notably fresh example for a novel of this period.
Illustrations: Illustrated throughout by George du Maurier with numerous in-text wood-engraved illustrations, including vignette scenes, architectural interiors, dream sequences, and symbolic imagery integral to the narrative. All illustrations complete and well printed.

The book: Peter Ibbetson is one of George du Maurier’s most introspective and enduring novels, first published in English in 1892 and here offered in a later English edition of 1896. Blending romance, memory, and metaphysical speculation, the novel explores the power of shared dreaming as a means of transcending physical and emotional confinement. Set between France and England, the story is distinguished by its psychological depth and its quietly haunting atmosphere. This copy is particularly notable for its refined contemporary morocco binding, which transforms the volume into both a literary and artistic object of high distinction.

The author: George du Maurier (1834–1896) was a Franco-British novelist, illustrator, and one of the most influential artists associated with Punch magazine. He achieved international literary fame with Trilby (1894), a cultural phenomenon of the late Victorian period, followed by Peter Ibbetson, widely regarded as his most personal and psychologically complex work. Du Maurier’s unique ability to unite text and image gives his novels a visual coherence rarely matched in nineteenth-century fiction.

The illustrator: George du Maurier illustrated Peter Ibbetson himself, providing a visual narrative that closely mirrors the emotional and symbolic structure of the text. His illustrations are integral rather than decorative, reinforcing the dreamlike quality of the novel through expressive linework and carefully composed scenes. Together with the text, they form a unified artistic vision emblematic of du Maurier’s dual talent as both writer and illustrator.