BULWER-LYTTON, Edward George.

The Last Days of Pompeii.

First edition of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's The Last Days of Pompeii; finely bound in full polished calf by Bayntun Riviere

London: Richard Bentley, 1834.

$1,500.00

In Stock Item Number: RRB-149376

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First edition of Bulwer-Lytton's most celebrated work, a classic of historical fiction and the basis for the 1935 Hollywood film of the same name directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper. Octavo, three volumes bound in full polished calf by Bayntun Riviere with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Half-titles to vols. II and III, vol. I issued without a half-title. In near fine condition.

Published in 1834, Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Last Days of Pompeii emerged at a time of growing British interest in classical antiquity, fueled by ongoing archaeological excavations in southern Italy and the broader cultural authority of Greco-Roman history in Victorian education and aesthetics. Drawing on contemporary reports of discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum, Bulwer-Lytton constructed a fictional narrative set in the final days of the Roman city. The novel juxtaposed Roman polytheism with early Christianity, reflecting dominant Victorian concerns with moral decline, religious transformation, and civilizational decay. While primarily a work of imaginative reconstruction, it also aligned with mid-nineteenth-century literary efforts to interpret the ancient world in terms legible to modern readers. The work served as the basis for multiple film adaptations, particularly in the early and mid-20th century. The most notable is the 1935 Hollywood film The Last Days of Pompeii, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper (who also directed King Kong).