PHIPPS, Constantine, Marquis of Normanby.

£500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Yes and No: A Tale of the Day. First edition of this scarce romantic novel, association copy, attractively bound for George Agar-Ellis, first Baron Dover, who campaigned alongside the author for Catholic relief in Ireland as a fellow Whig MP. The publisher Henry Colburn issued many such "silver fork" novels, which provided a portrait of high society to a largely middle-class readership.Agar-Ellis (1797-1833) was a passionate supporter of liberal ideas and a noted patron of the arts. His edition of the Letters of Horace Walpole... to Sir Horace Mann (1833) was reviewed by Thomas Babington Macaulay as "the last of the useful and modest services rendered to literature by a nobleman of amiable manners, of untarnished public and private character, and of cultivated mind" (Edinburgh Review, vol. 58, p. 227).Constantine Phipps (1797-1863) served in the positions of Home Secretary, ambassador to France, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Upon arriving to Dublin in 1835, he "was welcomed by Roman Catholics. O'Connell declared that he was the best Englishman that Ireland had ever seen. [Phipps] liberated prisoners, discouraged the most offensive demonstrations of Orange bigotry, and controversially entertained O'Connell at Dublin Castle. Initially his social qualities captivated the Roman Catholic party, but Ireland could not be permanently disarmed by his smiles nor could he indefinitely sustain the cost of his charm offensive" (ODNB)."The majority of silver fork novels were published by

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