The Little Minister.

BARRIE, J.M.

Item Number: 85882

London: Cassell & Company, 1891.

First issue with half-titles and 16 pages of publishers’ ads, of which the first page has code “5G.9.91.” Octavo, 3 volumes. Bound in full red calf by Bayntun-Riviere, gilt rule borders, spines gilt, black and blue morocco labels, inner gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, slipcase. Original cloth bound in at rear of volumes. Garland 10; Sadleir 167.

The Little Minister is set in Thrums, a Scottish weaving village based on Barrie’s birthplace, and concerns Gavin Dishart, a young impoverished minister with his first congregation. The weavers he serves soon riot in protest against reductions in their wages and harsh working conditions. It was turned into a successful play in 1897 and eventually a movie starring Katharine Hepburn in 1934.