A Bowdoin Prize Dissertation. The first dissertation on Jane Austen, given at Harvard University, is a 50 page essay. As Devoney Looser describes in Chatper 10 of The Making of Jane Austen, Pellew skillfully sets Jane Austen among other writers, inlcuding not just her prededessors and contemporaries, but also her descendants in the 19th century. Bringing Austen-love to academia, Pellew performed a great service to us all, and in spite of the time period in which he wrote, his perceptions are keen and worthwhile. The red cloth cover is stained. The top of the spine cover is chipped. One page has pulled from the 5 stitches that bind the book sections together. The pages are clean. The only mark is a price penciled in the first free endpaper, over an area where other prices have been gently erased. A very good, clean copy of a rare book. Boston: Cupples, Upham, & Co. 1883. First edition. USED. $540