The Pilgrim's Progress

First issued in 1678, this allegory follows Christian, a man of the City of Destruction, who flees with a burden on his back toward the Celestial City. Guided at first by Evangelist, he passes the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, Doubting Castle, and the valley of the shadow of death, meeting companions such as Faithful and Hopeful and tempters such as Worldly Wiseman and Apollyon. A later part sends his wife Christiana and their children along a related road. The book is a Protestant pilgrimage narrative in which places and persons stand for spiritual states rather than for a literal geography.

Gilded top page edge. Red head- and tail-bands. Red ribbon marker. Quarter-bound in red leather blocked in gold foil, blue cloth sides blocked on front in gold foil and picture printed with black ink, red leather titling label blocked in gold inset on front cover. Teal cloth-covered slipcase blind-blocked on the front, inset with an illustration label and outlined with gold-blocking.