St. Elmo

by Augusta J. Evans Wilson

Ward, Lock & Co., c1938, colour frontispiece, hardcover, dust-jacket

Very Good Condition, previous owners award plate on front fly-leaf, pages age-toned, some edge and shelf wear with some rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, price-clipped dust-jacket shows some edge and shelf wear with some chips, tears, holes and creasing (see photographs)

"The popularity of St. Elmo persists, although all other romances of the Byron convention have long since vanished from the bookstalls.  Nearly every country produced them, the family likeness was unmistakable.  The protagonist was always a darkly handsome disillusioned man, scornful, despairing, yet never less than an archangel ruined.  Why has St. Elmo alone survived? Perhaps it's female protagonist, Edna, masterful and learned, is ultra modern.  Moreover, they are both beautiful, and the author has the gift, which is very rare, of making physical beauty felt."