Up and Down the World

London: Tinsley Brothers. 18, Catherine Street, Strand, 1869. First Edition. 3 vols., 8vo (202 x 143mm), vi, 292, [2]; vi, 278, [2]; vi, 268, [4] Publisher’s dark green decorative cloth stamped in blind, gilt spines. Publisher’s advertisements at the back of all volumes. Light rubbing to the spine ends, some scattered foxing at the front of each volume, volume one spine gently cocked, else a bright, near fine set. Originally serialized in the Dublin University Magazine, a very scarce and uncommonly well-preserved set of this novel by J. Sheridan's eldest daughter. OCLC locates only 5 copies. Loeber, A Guide to Irish Fiction 1650-1900. Eleanor Frances Le Fanu (1845–1903) was the eldest child of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873), the Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels now regarded as among the foremost ghost story writers of the Victorian era, whose major works include Uncle Silas (1864) and the novella Carmilla (1872). Writing under the pseudonym Russell Gray, Eleanor published three novels in quick succession: Never--For Ever (1867), John Haller's Niece (1868), and Up and Down the World (1869). The Le Fanu family was of Huguenot descent and deeply embedded in Irish literary life; Eleanor's great-great-uncle was the dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and her cousin Rhoda Broughton became a successful novelist in her own right. All three of Eleanor's novels are scarce, and very little critical attention has been directed toward her work, which remains largely overshadowed by her father's considerable reputation.