1875 “Lost Gip” by Hesba Stretton – Victorian Illustrated Edition (Henry S. King

A beautiful 1875 first-year printing of Lost Gip by Hesba Stretton, published by Henry S. King & Co., London — the same press that first printed Tennyson’s later works and early Victorian Christian fiction.

Bound in deep blue embossed cloth with gilt floral title design, this edition features six full-page illustrations, including the classic frontispiece. Inside is a handwritten 1886 gift inscription reading:

“To Hattie Wright Yarnell, with the kind love & best wishes of Ada F. Evans, Broughton Rectory, April 2nd 1886 — ‘was lost and is found.’ Luke xv. 32.”

This copy bridges the spiritual and sentimental worlds of the late Victorian era — a moral tale of redemption and loss told through Stretton’s hallmark compassion and realism.

• Author: Hesba Stretton (Sarah Smith)

• Publisher: Henry S. King & Co., London

• Date: 1875 (Forty-first Thousand)

• Binding: Decorative blue cloth, gilt title, black stamped design

• Condition: Good vintage — light wear to corners and spine ends, some foxing and paste residue from old label, but binding firm and pages clean.

A rare early example of 19th-century moral literature, perfect for collectors of Victorian fiction, religious history, or decorative antique books.