Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

WALLACE, Lew.

Item Number: 136967

New York : Harper & Brothers, 1892.

The Garfield edition of Wallace’s classic work. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Illustrated with drawings by William Martin John on the margins and with photogravure tissue guarded plates from the original engravings including frontispieces in both volumes. In near fine condition.

"In America, 300,000 copies were sold in the first ten years after publication, making it one of the highest-ranking bestsellers of the nineteenth century" (Grolier). It became a best-selling American novel, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) in sales. The book also inspired other novels with biblical settings and was adapted for the stage and motion picture productions. Ben-Hur remained at the top of the US all-time bestseller list until the publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936). The 1959 MGM film adaptation of Ben-Hur was seen by tens of millions and won 11 Academy Awards in 1960, after which the book's sales increased and it surpassed Gone with the Wind. It was blessed by Pope Leo XIII, the first novel ever to receive such praise. The success of the novel and its stage and film adaptations also helped it to become a popular cultural icon that was used to promote numerous commercial products.