The American Senator

Published in 1877, this novel follows Elias Gotobed, a senator from the fictional American state of Mickewa, who stays at an English country house and lectures his hosts on hunting, class, and the law. Beside his tour runs a marriage plot: Arabella Trefoil, a determined hunter of a title, pursues Lord Rufford while her engagement to John Morton frays. Mary Masters, a solicitor's daughter in the neighbouring town, is pressed toward Morton though her feelings lie elsewhere. Gotobed's public speech on English institutions supplies the book's running argument. It is a social comedy of courtship and manners, not a treatise on transatlantic politics.

Quarter bound in blue series binding, lilac paper boards with the border in blue. Lilac endleaves. Blue slipcase.