1880 Rare Book- The Light of Asia or The Great Renunciation, Founder of Buddhism
Author: Sir Edwin Arnold.
Title: The Light of Asia; or, The Great Renunciation (Mahâbhinishkramana): Being the Life and Teaching of Gautama, Prince of India and Founder of Buddhism (As Told in Verse by an Indian Buddhist).
Publisher: New York: American Book Exchange, Tribune Building, 1880.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.25" × 5".
Pages: 121 pages.
Binding: Attractive and near fine original publisher’s full emerald-green cloth, beautifully decorated in black and gilt on the upper cover with a radiant celestial motif with a rising sun and crescent moon surrounded by golden rays and stars, symbolizing spiritual illumination. Black decorative borders and geometric Art-Nouveau-inspired ornamentation (hinges fine, overall slightly scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown, front free endpaper with a small hole at lower corner - as shown). This copy includes a poignant provenance, bearing the bookplate of Nellie Burget Miller, the noted author and Poet Laureate of Colorado, and a small bookseller’s ticket from W. T. Seaman, Books & Paper, Omaha on the front pastedown. Clean and well-preserved throughout.
Estimate: (USD 175–250).
The book: A beautiful early American edition of Sir Edwin Arnold’s The Light of Asia, the celebrated poetic retelling of the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. First published in London in 1879 and quickly reprinted worldwide, it became one of the most influential literary works of the 19th century to introduce Buddhism to Western readers.
Arnold’s verse narrative recounts the spiritual journey of Prince Siddhartha, his renunciation of worldly life, his meditation under the Bodhi tree, and his awakening into the Buddha. The poem’s serene imagery and moral philosophy captivated Victorian audiences, presenting Eastern wisdom through the lens of English Romanticism.
This 1880 American Book Exchange edition elegantly produced and beautifully bound captures that moment of cross-cultural fascination with the East. Its gilt celestial binding mirrors the poem’s symbolism of enlightenment and the triumph of compassion over material desire.
Provenance: The copy bears the bookplate of Nellie Burget Miller (1868–1952), a Colorado poet, essayist, and journalist who served as Poet Laureate of Colorado. Her ownership connects this volume to the American literary scene of the early 20th century, when interest in transcendental and Eastern philosophy flourished among poets and thinkers.
The author: Sir Edwin Arnold (1832–1904) was an English poet, scholar, and journalist. A graduate of Oxford and one-time principal of Deccan College in India, he developed a deep admiration for Indian philosophy and spirituality. His Light of Asia was internationally acclaimed and later followed by The Light of the World (1891), drawing parallels between Buddhist and Christian moral teachings. Arnold’s poetic vision sought to foster cross-cultural understanding and remains a cornerstone in Victorian literature’s engagement with Eastern thought.