London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1889. Sixteenmo (6 3/16 x 3 5/8 inches; 157 x 93 mm.). [vi], 306, [1, imprint], [5, blank] pp. Portrait frontispiece with tissue guard. Title-page printed in red and black. Bound ca. 1920 by Rivière & Son, stamp signed in gilt on lower turn-in. Full antelope crushed levant morocco, covers decoratively ruled in gilt surrounding a very elaborate floral design in pointillé, spine with five raised bands, similarly decorated and lettered in gilt in compartments, gilt-ruled board edges, full dark blue morocco liners elaborately decorated in gilt, blue watered silk end-leaves, top edge gilt. A wonderful example of the art of 'pointillé'.

The Scottish author, critic, and thinker Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was a major influence on Victorian society. His novel, Sartor Resartus (translated as The Tailor Re-tailored, among other variations) is a satirical look at the work of a fictional philosopher, Diogenes Teufelsdröckh. Intriguing in its form, the book is structured from the prospective of a skeptical English reviewer consumed by Teufelsdröckh’s book Clothes, Their Origin and Influence. In crafting Sartor Resartus, Carlyle drew on a range of literary influences: Goethe, Hegel, Sterne, and Switft. Carlyle’s complicated text not only critiques academic writing and materialism, but offers meditations on the meanings of symbols and the search for truth. Although first started as an essay, the project eventually developed into a novel, which was first published serially in Fraser’s Magazine (1833-34). Fine (Item #6403)