Lot 112: WALLACE, LEW.

Ben-Hur. A Tale of the Christ. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1880

Condition Note: first edition, first printing with dated title-page and two-line dedication, 8vo (6 5/8 x 4 1/2 in.; 170 x 115mm.), six advertisement leaves at end, original gray-blue cloth, floral design on covers and spine in red, blue, green and black, gray endpapers, upper cover very lightly soiled, slight wear to extremities

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

BAL 20798; Grolier American 82
CATALOGUE NOTE

"In America, 300,000 copies were sold in the first ten years after publication, making it one of the highest-ranking bestsellers of the nineteenth century. It has been successfully translated to the stage, and also into one of the early moving picture colossal super-spectacles" (Grolier).

The definitive movie adaptation - considered one of the landmarks in movie history - was directed by William Wyler and released in 1959. Starring Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur the film was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning eleven.