TOM BROWN AT OXFORD.
By the Author of "Tom Brown's School Days." In Three Volumes. Cambridge: Macmillan and Co., 1861. 1 page Vol II undated ads, 24 pp Vol III ads dated "15.10.61." Original royal blue cloth.
First English Edition. This was Hughes's sequel to TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS, which had appeared in 1857. Just as Hughes had exposed some of the worst evils of the public school system in the earlier book (he specifically had in mind Rugby, which he had attended), so he tried to assail higher education in the present novel -- albeit less successfully.
Unfortunately, TOM BROWN AT OXFORD was issued in Macmillan's "Cambridge blue" binding (also called "Kingsley style," as the first title so bound was WESTWARD HO!); this is a notoriously fragile binding that is seldom able to survive the past 160+ years in anything approaching original condition. However this set, complete with the ad catalogue that appears only in some copies, is in very good-plus condition: there is generally-minor edge-wear at the extremities and a few of the original pale-peach endpapers are (as usual) cracked. Sadleir 1234 (with ads in Vol I); Wolff 3331 (with ads in Vol III); Quayle BOYS' STORIES pp 113-114. Housed in three (somewhat scuffed) morocco-backed slipcases. Item #13614
Price: $450.00