2 volumes, 8vo. Contemporary green straight-grain morocco with central lozenges gilt with red and citron morocco inlays, spines in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands gilt, gilt-lettering in 2, morocco inlays gilt in others, top edges gilt, others uncut (rubbing, light sunning to spines). Provenance: Armorial bookplate to inner front board of each volume; previously sold, Anderson Galleries, 3-4 March 1936, lot 340.

FIRST EDITION. Marius the Epicurean was originally conceived as the first in a planned trilogy of tales which would have explored the author's personal philosophies through the lens of fictional characters throughout history. The novel was enthusiastically received by the British public, leading to a second edition being printed within months of the first. In a 1970 essay the critic Harold Bloom wrote that Marius the Epicurean was "one of the more remarkable fictional experiments of the late nineteenth century."