HAWKSTONE : A TALE OF AND FOR ENGLAND IN 184-.

London : John Murray, 1845. First edition. A key novel in the whole Tractarian, Young England, Oxford Movement controversies of the times - a lament for the loss of Anglican faith, hostility to the industrial world, profound opposition to Rome and the Jesuits - and yet also a lurid and sensational novel, widely read and hugely popular, especially in the United States. "Hawkstone has the rare merit of being written throughout with more or less of intellectual power. It does not contain a single page in which the evidence of mind is not apparent" (John Bull, 29th March 1845). Two volumes. Foolscap 8vo (159 x 99cm). viii,396; [ii],422pp. Bound, without half-titles, in a neat contemporary half tan calf, banded, gilt, and worked in blind; black labels; marbled sides, edges, and endleaves; some very minor wear; a handful of internal spots, but a very good set. Contemporary ownership inscriptions of Mary Hobson, and later owner's 1909 name.