WARE, William "Zenobia; or, The Fall of Palmyra" [H.M. Caldwell, 1897]

WARE, William. Zenobia; or, The Fall of Palmyra.

New York: H.M. Caldwell Company, n.d. but 1897. From Caldwell's Salon Series, second issue. 7.75" x 5.5", viii + 432pp* with 20 photo-illustrated plates. Pale orange cloth with extensive gilt , violet, and green leaf pattern. Top edge gilt. Light rubbing to edges. One orange discoloration at upper edge of front board, as pictured. Rear board (blank) very lightly soiled. Internally clean and sound. Very Good and quite uncommon in this binding.

*Pages 15-18 have been inserted twice so, technically, 436pp. No pages are missing.

An early American historical novel told through fictional letters of the Roman nobleman Lucius Manlius Piso. The story follows Piso’s journey to Palmyra, where he encounters Queen Zenobia and witnesses her struggle against Roman domination. Ware portrays Zenobia as a noble and intelligent ruler, contrasting the grandeur of Palmyra with the corruption of Rome, while reflecting 19th-century American ideals of liberty and republican virtue. The epistolary style lends immediacy and intimacy to the unfolding drama of Palmyra’s rise and fall.