Robert Elsmere

First published in 1888 Robert Elsmere was probably the biggest-selling novel of the nineteenth century. Inspired by the religious crises of her father Mary Augusta Ward tells the story of an Oxford clergyman who begins to doubt the doctrines of the Anglican church after he encounters the work of German rationalists. Rather than becoming an atheist Elsmere pursues the idea of constructive liberalism stressing the importance of social work among the poor and uneducated. The Times called it a clever attack upon revealed religion while William Gladstones copy was annotated with objections to Wards heterodoxy. In the Victorian age nothing was more likely to generate publicity than religious controversy and Robert Elsmere became a runaway success. More than one million copies were sold generating around £4000 in royalties which would today put Ward in the millionaire author bracket. Her earnings would have been higher if it werent for the absence of international copyright laws when Robert Elsmere was first published. Many cheap US editions were hurriedly produced to cash in on its success. Some were sold as loss leaders for just 4 cents and other copies were given away free with every cake of Maines Balsam Fir Soap conveying the idea that cleanliness was next to godliness. Out of print for twenty-five years this new edition brings Wards publishing phenomenon to a new audience. The text is completely reset and the edition includes: critical introduction by Miriam Elizabeth Bursteinexplanatory notesextracts from the preface to the Westmoreland edition of Robert Elsmereexcerpts from Gladstones famous review of Robert Elsmereextracts from Wards The History of David Grieveextract from Wards The Case of Richard Meynell