1872 Rare Book - Winter Evenings, Tales of Travellers by Maria Hack, Illustrated
Author: Maria Hack. Illustrated by Gilbert and Harvey.
Title: Winter Evenings; or, Tales of Travellers.
Publisher: London, Strahan & Co., 56 Ludgate Hill, 1872.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7 x 4.5 inches.
Pages: vi-463 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good publisher’s decorative Victorian cloth binding. Original green textured cloth, richly decorated in gilt and black to the upper board and spine with ornamental arch-and-sun motif and botanical panel designs, gilt title panel and decorative gilt rules. Bevelled boards (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt. A very handsome survival of late 19th-century gift-book production.
Content: Good content (tight, some foxing to preliminaries and some scattered pages - as shown, prize bookplate of The Royal Academy, Inverness, dated July 16th, 1877, awarded to Miss Catherine A. Fraser on the first endpaper - as shown). The text remains legible and pleasing overall.
Illustrations: Complete with eight full-page engraved plates, including frontispiece with tissue guard (Deer), finely executed and characteristic of Victorian narrative illustration.
Estimate: (USD 150–175)
The book: A richly-decorated Victorian edition of Maria Hack’s Winter Evenings; or, Tales of Travellers, a popular 19th-century moral and educational narrative framed as family storytelling during winter nights. The tales draw upon accounts of travel and exploration—journeys across the Arabian desert, Arctic encounters, Icelandic adventures, and shipwreck narratives—transforming real-world travel literature into accessible stories for young readers of the period. Both entertaining and instructive, the work reflects the Victorian fascination with geography, exploration, moral reflection, and perseverance in the face of hardship.
The author: Maria Hack (1777–1844) was an English Quaker educational writer whose books for young readers emphasized curiosity, observation, and moral understanding. Her works encouraged learning through narrative, blending geography, natural history, and travel with ethical instruction. Winter Evenings became one of her most enduring titles, admired for its engaging storytelling and thoughtful didactic tone.
The illustrators: Gilbert and Harvey, active 19th-century illustrators and engravers, contributed to numerous Victorian children’s and gift editions. Their plates here capture both drama and atmosphere—rugged landscapes, perilous journeys, and human resilience—complementing Hack’s narratives with strong visual interpretation.