1893 The Story of David by Rev. John Wild Illustrated Rare Pictorial Hardback
 
Item Details
Title: The Story of David – Its Lessons For To-Day
Author: Rev. John Wild
Publisher: Cassell and Company, Limited (London, Paris, Melbourne)
Printer: Cassell and Company, Limited, La Belle Sauvage, London
Date: 1893 (First Edition)
Format: Hardback
Pages: 251 pp., including frontispiece + 15 full-page illustrations
Size: 17.7 × 12 × 2.1 cm
Weight: 321 g
 
Exterior Condition
Bound in the publisher’s original green cloth boards with ornate pictorial decoration to the front cover and spine, with black stylised lettering and gilt spine titles. The binding is intact, robust, and attractive for a book now over 130 years old. Wear includes:
Bumping to corners
Patches of rubbing and light fading to cloth
Slight discolouration in places
Gentle lean to the spine
Despite this, the book remains handsome and displays well.
 
Interior Condition
Pages bright for age, very lightly tanned with darker tanning on endpapers
Overall neat and clean, predominantly uncreased
Occasional very light foxing or faint marks only
Small creases to just a few pages, but no rips
Early inscription on front pastedown; no further writing
Tightly bound overall, with just a partial light crack in the gutter at pp. 144–145 (see photo), but all pages secure
All 251 pages present, including 16 full-page illustrations (frontispiece + 15 plates)
 
About the Author
Rev. John Wild was a late 19th-century Christian writer and preacher, best known for devotional and biblical expository works such as The Story of David (1893). His writings were published by Cassell and Co., a leading London publisher that specialised in religious and educational titles, helping bring accessible biblical lessons to Victorian readers.
 
Significance of this Edition
First edition (1893) of this Victorian retelling of the biblical life of David, King of Israel
Illustrated throughout with 16 full-page plates
Published by Cassell & Co., one of the era’s foremost religious and educational presses
Scarce survival in this condition, with decorative pictorial cloth binding still present and attractive