Octavo. xv, (iii), 411pp + 19 inserted plates. A totemic tome bringing together a number of the eminent writers of the period, including Mark Twain, Wilkie Collins, John Hay, and, to suit the title, Alfred Lord Tennyson. With the requisite first-printing attribution at the copyright page with the University Press device and the 20-line title page. Bound in terracotta cloth over boards with considerable gilt and black decoration to front cover and spine, with mirroring motif in blind at rear. Edges rubbed, few glances of soiling, else very good and quite square. A.e.g. (BAL 3363)