Nature and Human Nature by Thomas Chandler Haliburtonk – Hurst & Blackett Standard Library Edition c.1880s
 
Bibliographic Details
Title: Nature and Human Nature
Author: By the Author of Sam Slick, The Clockmaker (Thomas Chandler Haliburton)
Publisher: Hurst & Blackett, London (Printed by John Childs and Son, Printers)
Series: Hurst & Blackett’s Standard Library
Date: Undated, c. 1880s (first published 1855)
Format: Hardback, green cloth boards
Size: 19.8 × 13 × 2.8 cm
Pagination: vi + 344 pages + 4-page publisher’s catalogue at rear, 2-page catalogue at start
Weight: 482g
 
Exterior Condition
 
Bound in green cloth boards with blind-stamped decorations to front and rear, and gilt decorations and titles to the spine. Covers remain intact and robust for their age, with some rubbing at edges and corners and a few small marks. Cloth is still vibrant. The spine is strong with bright gilt.
 
Interior Condition
 
Illustrated frontispiece with protective tissue guard
Pages lightly tanned, with coloured pastedowns and endpapers
Roughly cut edges with some uncut pages, consistent with period binding
Very small amount of pen marginalia on p.344 and in publisher’s catalogue at rear. No further writing inside
Light foxing to preliminary pages, but text remains clear
Pages neat overall, with only the occasional small crease or mark
Very small pinprick-size holes affecting margins of pp. 173/174 (does not affect text)
Very small tear to bottom inner margin of front free endpaper and occasional small rips on page edges, mainly from being roughly cut (does not affect text)
All pages securely bound, with a very light crack at page vi
 
Why this Book is Special
 
This edition of Nature and Human Nature comes from Hurst & Blackett’s Standard Library series, an important Victorian series that made literary works available to a wide audience. Thomas Chandler Haliburton, writing as “Sam Slick,” was a Canadian humourist whose satirical observations on society were extremely popular in both Britain and North America.
 
To collectors, this book offers not only the author’s wit but also a fine example of a late-Victorian publisher’s cloth binding. The gilt-stamped spine and robust green boards reflect the craftsmanship of the period.
 
Condition Summary
 
A well-preserved example of an antiquarian Standard Library edition. Clean, neat text with only light signs of use. Binding strong. Attractive Victorian cloth binding with gilt.