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Benson, Robert Hugh.
Lord of the World.
Publisher: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., London;
Date of Publication: 1907
Stock Code: 15620
First edition. Octavo, pp., [x], 384, [6] of publisher’s advertisements. Publisher’s original sea-green cloth; titled in black with dirigible vignette in cream to spine; pictorial upper cover stamped in black, ochre, cream, and pale green; white end-papers. Library shelf-mark stickers to spine; minor shelf-wear to corners; minor rubbing to cloth. Internally clean and bright. A very good copy ex of the Theosophical Library of Edinburgh, with no library markings save for the shelf-marks to spine. A dystopian parable which imagines the return of the antichrist, the decline of religion, the ascendancy of global communism, and an insurgent Catholic resistance to this new regime. The novel has become a critical darling among Catholic intellectuals, with Popes Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV all citing it as a reflection of the present day. ‘at times repellant for its fanaticism, the accessory background and the emotional power carry the novel through. It is far superior to the author’s short stories’ (Bleiler, 179). £450.00