1879 Rare Victorian Book - The Pilgrim's Progress illustrated by John Dawson Watson

(description)

Author : Bunyan, John. Illustrated by J. D. Watson.
Title : The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come.
Publisher : London, George Routledge and Sons,1879. 
Language : Text in English
Size : 8.5 " X 6.5 "
Pages : xxii-407 pages.
Binding : Attractive and very good full Victorian decorated cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn, soiled and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. (Specially bound by W. Bone & Son, 76 Fleet St, London). Scarce in this binding!
Content : Very good content (bright and clean, rare foxing and staining, small name of a previous owner on the blank page at the back of the frontispiece). 
Illustrations : Profusely and beautifully illustrated by J.D. Watson (engraved by the Brothers Dalziel).

The book : Scarce in this binding and attractive edition of The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come which is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print. It has also been cited as the first novel written in English.

The author: John Bunyan (30 November 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons.

The illustrator : John Dawson Watson RWS (20 May 1832 – 3 January 1892) was a British painter, watercolorist, and illustrator. He was educated King Edward VI Grammar School, Sedbergh School and Manchester School of Design. His son was the Impressionist painter Dawson Dawson-Watson.Watson exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1853 to 1890, the British Institution, the Society of British Artists Suffolk Street, Royal Watercolour Society, and the Grosvenor Gallery. He was famous for his paintings of genre scenes, often of children. His pictures were usually small, painted on panel or board, and showed a Pre-Raphaelite feeling for colour and detail. He was also a prolific and notable illustrator, producing many designs for books and periodicals. He worked for Once a Week, Good Words, London Society and others; among the many books he illustrated were Pilgrim's Progress, Arabian Nights, and Watt's Diine and Floral Songs. Works by him are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Norwich and Liverpool.