Green cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

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Please view our photographs. In very good condition this book would fetch upwards of £800. 

Author: Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), Anglo-French writer and historian. 

Title: The Girondin, a historical fiction novel set during the French Revolution (specifically focusing on the revolutionary political faction known as the Girondists). 

Year of Publication: 1911 (First Edition).

Publisher: Thomas Nelson & Sons, London (and New York). 

Physical Description: Typically bound in green cloth with gilt lettering, featuring approximately 372 pages, often including a colored frontispiece and publisher’s advertisements at the rear.

Market Value: Copies of the 1911 first edition in good or collectible condition generally sell in the range of £800 upwards depending on wear, and fading to the spine.

NOTE 1: The Girondins, also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initially were part of the Jacobin movement. They campaigned for the end of the monarchy, but then resisted the spiraling momentum of the Revolution, which caused a conflict with the more radical Montagnards. They dominated the movement until their fall in the insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793, which resulted in the domination of the Montagnards and the purge and eventual mass execution of the Girondins. This event is considered to mark the beginning of the Reign of Terror.

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (27 July 1870 – 16 July 1953) was a French-English writer and political activist. Belloc was considered one of the most versatile authors of the 20th century, producing essays on history, politics and economics as well as poetry, travelogues and satire. His Catholicism had a strong effect on his works. Born in France, Belloc became a naturalised British subject in 1902 while retaining his French citizenship. While attending Oxford University, he served as President of the Oxford Union. From 1906 to 1910, he served as one of the few Catholic members of the British Parliament.

Belloc was a noted disputant, with a number of feuds. He was also a close friend and collaborator of G. K. Chesterton; George Bernard Shaw, a friend and frequent debate opponent of both Belloc and Chesterton, dubbed the pair “the Chesterbelloc”. Belloc’s writings encompassed religious poetry and comic verse for children. His widely sold Cautionary Tales for Children included “Jim, who ran away from his nurse, and was eaten by a lion” and “Matilda, who told lies and was burned to death”. He wrote historical biographies and numerous travel works, including The Path to Rome (1902).