1878 Rare Victorian Book - The Mine, or Darkness and Light by A.L.O.E.
Author: A.L.O.E. (a Lady of England)- Charlotte Maria Tucker.
Title: The Mine, or Darkness and Light.
Publisher: London, Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1878.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7 x 5 inches.
Pages: 175 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original publisher’s green cloth binding, gilt-lettered and pictorially blocked in black and gilt on the upper cover, depicting figures emerging from a mine shaft toward a ray of light. Spine gilt with lantern motif and vignette of a miner. Decorative blind-stamped borders to the rear cover (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt. Overall, a very attractive and well-preserved Victorian binding with strong colour and clear gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing - as shown).
Illustrations: Illustrated with engraved full-page plates and decorative headpieces and initials throughout. Notable plates include dramatic underground scenes such as “In the Mine” and “We Are Saved!”, executed in a finely detailed Victorian narrative style. Complete.
The book: The Mine; or, Darkness and Light is a morally instructive Victorian novel that blends adventure, domestic realism, and religious reflection. Set against the perilous world of mining, the story uses physical darkness and light as extended metaphors for spiritual trial, perseverance, and redemption. Issued by Thomas Nelson and Sons, a leading publisher of religious and juvenile literature, this 1878 edition presents the work in an especially appealing pictorial cloth binding, designed to attract family and young readers while reinforcing the book’s moral themes through image as well as text.
The author: Charlotte Maria Tucker (8 May 1821 – 2 December 1893) was a prolific English writer and poet for children and adults, who wrote under the pseudonym A.L.O.E. (a Lady of England). Late in life she spent a period as a volunteer missionary in India, where she died.