1851 Scarce Early Edition - THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. A Romance Of Pendle Forest.

Author: William Harrison Ainsworth.
Title: THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. A Romance Of Pendle Forest. In Two Volumes. (Complete two volumes bound in one book).
Publisher : London, Chapman and Hall, 1851. (Complete two volumes bound in one book). First one volume Edition.
Language: Text in English
Size: 7" X 4.5".
Pages: 256, 252 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good contemporary tan half-calf leather binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown).

Estimation : (Scarce with no or few other copies of this edition for sale worldwide).

The book: Scarce early edition of The Lancashire Witches -- the only one of William Harrison Ainsworth's forty novels that has remained continuously in print since its first publication. It was serialized in the Sunday Times newspaper in 1848; a book edition appeared the following year, published by Henry Colburn. The novel is based on the true story of the Pendle witches, who were executed in 1612 for causing harm by witchcraft. Modern critics such as David Punter consider the book to be Ainsworth's best work. E. F. Bleiler rated the novel as "one of the major English novels about witchcraft".

The author: William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 1805 – 3 January 1882) was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket. Ebers introduced Ainsworth to literary and dramatic circles, and to his daughter, who became Ainsworth's wife.