ILLUSTRATIONS OF LYING, IN ALL ITS BRANCHES
Book Details + Condition: Andrus and Judd (Hartford, CT). Circa 1840 (no date provided). Embossed full leather boards with gilt on spine. 6.25" x 4.5". 283 pages. Born Amelia Alderson, the author was friend of many literary and religious notables of the day. In 1825, Amelia Opie was admitted to membership in the Society of Friends. She had long been closely acquainted with the Gurney family of Norwich, among the most prominent Quakers in the area, and for many years had been moving closer to embracing its tenets. For a novelist such as Opie, the Quaker prohibition on fiction as falsehood posed some sacrifices. “Illustrations of Lying in all its Branches” treads a fine line between fiction and non-fiction, as it alternates between moral discourse considering various forms of lying and brief anecdotal tales to illustrate each one. Some shelf wear to leather boards; rubbing to edges and corners; owner name on front endpaper; foxing throughout; text is otherwise unmarked.
