Romance

Two volumes. pp. 516; 565 + Fifty-one wonderful photogravure plates from the photographs of Dr. Charles L. Mitchell and Francis Frith. Original full red cloth binding., brilliantly decorated in gold. Set against the turbulent historical backdrop of the 1680s, in England's lawless West Country, Lorna Doone is an action-packed tale of romance, revenge and family warfare. Blackmore's sweeping story of love and crime is one of fiction's most respected works. Three young people are caught in a taut emotional triangle - Carver Doone, murderous member of a feared family of aristocratic outlaws; John Ridd, a young farmer dedicated to avenging his father's death; and Lorna Doone, the dark-eyed beauty for whom both men would willingly die. At once independent and vulnerable, Lorna is the Doone "Princess", condemned by the family to marry Carver. But Lorna may not be quite what she seems. Richard Doddridge Blackmore (1825-1900) was born in Longworth, Berkshire, where his father John Blackmore was Curate-in-charge of the parish. Only a few months after his birth his mother died of typhus, his father moved back to his native West Country and young Richard was taken in charge by his aunt. In 1831 John Blackmore married again and Richard went to live with his father and stepmother in Devon. Richard went to school in Tiverton where he excelled in classical studies and later won a scholarship t o Oxford, where he took his degree in 1847. He made his first attempt at writing a novel during a university vacation. After leaving Oxford he entered the law, being called to the Bar in 1852. Ill-health, however, forced him to give up legal work as a full-time occupation and in 1853 he took the post of classics master at Wellesley House Grammar School, Hampton Road, Twickenham. Soon after accepti ng this post, Blackmore moved from London to Hampton Wick, where he lived until he moved to his new home in Teddington. In 1853 he married, and in 1854 published anonymously two volumes of poetry. In September 1857 his uncle died leaving his nephew a sum of money which enabled him to realise a long-held ambition - that of possessing a house in the country with a larger garden. Blackmore selected a plot of land at Teddington and built his new house (completed in 1860). He was to live there for the rest of his life. Gomer House, named after one of his favourite dogs, had extensive grounds. Within them Blackmore developed an 11 acre market garden, specialising in the cultivation of fruit. The grounds were surrounded by high walls. Although an expert in horticulture, he lacked the necessary bu siness sense and his market garden was not a very profitable enterprise. In the late 1860's Blackmore fought the coming of the railway to Teddington, winning claims against his property by the London and South West Railway Company, but being unable to prevent the erection of a station almost directly opposite his house. Some local residents in Teddington apparently regarded Blackmore as unsociable, if not misanthropic. Charles Deayton, a Teddington merchant is recorded as saying to a visitor: "He is not a social man, and seems wedded to his garden in the summer and his book writing in the wint er. That is all I know of him; except that he keeps the most vicious dogs to protect his fruit, and I would advise you to avoid the risk of visiting him." In fact, though of a retiring disposition, Blackmore did have a number of intimate friends whom he met regularly and many friendships with Americans as a result of his wide following in the United States. Blackmore died at Teddington in 1900 after a long and painful illness. He was buried at Teddington Cemetery. His wife had died in 1888. He had no children. **PRICE JUST REDUCED!