The Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan 1871 Illustrated Houlston Edition Prize Copy
 
The Pilgrim’s Progress By John Bunyan
New Edition, with Six Engravings on Wood
Published by Houlston and Sons, London, 1871
Printed by J. and W. Rider, Printers, Bartholomew Close, London
 
Description
 
A beautifully preserved 19th-century edition of John Bunyan’s timeless Christian allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress. This 1871 publication features six finely engraved wood illustrations, including a frontispiece with tissue guard, and plates facing pages 56, 98, 100, 196, and 274 – all present and accounted for.
 
Exterior Condition
 
Bound in brown blind-stamped cloth over boards and spine, with gilt lettering on the spine and blind-stamped decorations and title on both boards. The binding is intact, robust, and attractive for its age, with bright gilt remaining on the spine.
 
Light cosmetic wear includes minor splits at the head and tail of the spine, gentle bumping to corners, scattered marks, and patches of mild discolouration, consistent with age and handling.
 
Interior Condition
 
This includes yellow pastedowns and endpapers. 
 
The pages are lightly tanned with scattered foxing throughout, characteristic of Victorian paper stock. The text remains clear and legible, and the pages are predominantly uncreased.
 
A few pages are roughly or uncut at the edge (notably pp. 227–230 and from 281 to the end of the publisher’s catalogue).
 
There are no loose pages, although the illustrated plate facing page 98 is partially loose along the upper inner margin only, still attached at the lower portion, and there is a light crack to the side of page 3 and between the rear pastedown and free endpaper; both remain secure.
 
There are only the very occasional small tear at the page edges, not affecting text, and larger but legible tear runs through page 82 (see photo). The text is still legible.
 
A prize award plate is affixed to the front pastedown, reading:
 
“St. Paul’s Night School, Birmingham. April, 1873. Prize awarded to William Smith.”

Pencil remnants appear faintly on the endpapers and preliminaries.
 
All 283 pages plus the publisher’s catalogue at the rear are present.
Dimensions: 18.8 × 12.4 × 2.4 cm
Weight: 332 g
 
Provenance – St. Paul’s Night School, Birmingham
 
The prize plate bears the printed names “R. B. Burges, M.A., Vicar” and “H. Wilkinson, Master.”
 
Historical sources confirm that the Rev. R. B. Burges, M.A., served as Vicar of St. Paul’s Church, Birmingham, located in the Jewellery Quarter, during the 1870s.
 
This reference suggests that the volume was awarded by a parish-run evening or mission school affiliated with St. Paul’s Church, a site known for its educational outreach during the Victorian period.
 
This detail provides authentic provenance and a tangible connection to Birmingham’s 19th-century civic and educational history, adding scholarly and collector interest.
 
Historical Context
 
The Pilgrim’s Progress (first published in 1678) remains one of the most influential works of English religious literature, translated into over 200 languages and continuously in print for more than 300 years.
 
John Bunyan (1628–1688), a Puritan preacher, wrote the allegory while imprisoned for unlicensed preaching.
 
This 1871 edition reflects the late-Victorian interest in moral and devotional literature, beautifully printed and illustrated for family and school presentation purposes.
 
Summary
 
A handsome and complete 1871 edition of Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, presented in decorative cloth with gilt spine lettering, and bearing a documented Birmingham prize provenance linked to St. Paul’s Church.