By Henry Francis Lyte
With 16 Illustrations
T. Nelson and Sons, London, Edinburgh and New York
A particularly attractive Victorian illustrated edition of Henry Francis Lyte's celebrated hymn Abide With Me, preserved in its original pictorial cloth binding with gilt text-block edges.
The volume presents the complete hymn through a series of finely executed black-and-white illustrations incorporating the individual verses into elaborate pictorial and typographical designs.
It also includes the hymn with musical notation to EVENTIDE, the famous tune composed by William Henry Monk, together with a Memorial Sketch of Henry Francis Lyte.
The title page identifies the volume as Abide With Me, by Henry Francis Lyte, “With 16 Illustrations,” published by T. Nelson and Sons, London, Edinburgh and New York.
Although no publication date is printed on the title page, the book contains an early presentation inscription dated 1885, providing useful contemporary evidence that this copy was already in circulation by that date. The names in the inscription are difficult to decipher and I have therefore not attempted to transcribe them.
The book retains its attractive original Victorian pictorial cloth binding, with an elaborate architectural and ivy design surrounding the title Abide With Me on the front board. The spine is lettered in gilt, while the rear board carries a small floral device.
The text-block edges are gilt.
Internally, the book is especially attractive. The leaves remain notably bright and clean, and the numerous illustrations and decorative typography retain excellent definition.
The sixteen illustrations include religious, architectural, landscape and domestic scenes accompanying Lyte's verses, making the book an appealing example of late-19th-century illustrated religious and gift-book production.
Henry Francis Lyte (1793–1847) was an Anglican clergyman, poet and hymn writer, remembered above all as the author of Abide With Me.
The hymn takes its central image from the disciples' appeal to Christ on the road to Emmaus: “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent” (Luke 24:29).
Written towards the end of Lyte's life, the hymn became one of the most enduring works of English Christian hymnody. Lyte died in Nice in November 1847.
The words subsequently became inseparably associated with William Henry Monk's tune EVENTIDE, composed in the following decade and first published with the hymn in 1861.
Good antique condition overall, with an important binding weakness noted below.
The original pictorial cloth boards remain attractive, showing general age-related rubbing, marking and wear, particularly around the edges and corners. There are small areas of wear and bumping consistent with the book's age.
The front hinge is weakened and the gutter is visible. The front board nevertheless remains attached and the hinge is still functioning well. The book should consequently be opened and handled with appropriate care.
The contents are complete and intact, with the leaves remaining particularly bright and the illustrations crisp and well preserved.
There is an early presentation inscription to an endpaper, apparently dated 1885. The names are difficult to decipher. This inscription is photographed and forms part of the history of the copy.
Gilt remains to the text-block edges.
Please examine all photographs carefully as they form an important part of the condition description.
Publication: T. Nelson and Sons, London, Edinburgh and New York
Date: Undated; presentation inscription apparently dated 1885
Illustrations: 16
Binding: Original pictorial cloth
Pagination: Unpaginated
Edges: Gilt
Dimensions: approx. 183 × 135 × 11 mm
Weight: approx. 226 g