The Warden

First published in 1855, this novel opens the Barsetshire series with Septimus Harding, the gentle warden of Hiram's Hospital, an almshouse in the cathedral city of Barchester. A young reformer, John Bold, attacks the charity's income as too generous to Harding and too thin for the bedesmen. The press takes up the cause, the bishop and archdeacon defend church property, and Harding's daughter Eleanor is caught between loyalty to her father and to Bold. Harding must decide whether to keep his place. The book is a clerical comedy of conscience, not a crime story.

Bound in light brown cloth, cover blocked with an image by Bill Bragg in black, blue and white. Map endpapers printed dark brown on light brown. Brown slipcase.