STRAUSS, David Friedrich. The Life of Jesus, critically examined.... Translated from the fourth German edition. 3 vols. Tall 8vo. Chapman, Bros. 1846
Half titles. Contemp. full olive brown calf, spines gilt in compartments, maroon & black leather labels; sl. rubbing to spine vol. III, the odd small mark, inner hinges strengthened with brown tape. With blind stamps and labels of Birkbeck College Library. A nice bright copy.
¶Das Leben Jesu, kritisch bearbeitet, 1835-36. An English edition appeared in 1842-44, (London & Birmingham: Taylor & Henry Hetherington). George Eliot's translation, of which this is the first edition, and her first published work, superseded the earlier translation. It was started in 1843 by Elizabeth Rebecca Brabant, who, finding the task too onerous, transferred the commission to Eliot. The translation took the best part of two years, earning Eliot, whose name does not appear on the titleage, the princely sum of £20. Strauss himself praised Eliot's translation, and wrote a new Latin preface for the first English edition. Baker and Ross, A1.1.