Complete Set The Great Operas 10 Volumes 1899 Societe Universelle Lyrique by James W Buel. Great provenance with each book showing the name of the person who it was issued to - Was Manufactured Expressly For Mrs George Sheffield who was the wife of the artist George Sheffield 1839-1892. Each book measures about 13 1/2" x 17". The set weighs 32 pounds! Complete set with normal age related wear. The cloth boards show some normal soiling and wear. Volumes 1 and 10 have loosening at the inside binding hinge. See detailed photos. 

The Great Operas: The Romantic Legends upon which the Masters of Song have Founded Their Famous Lyrical Compositions.
VERDI, Giuseppe [Introduction]. Edited by James W. Buel.
London, Paris, Berlin, and Philadelphia: The Societe Universelle Lyrique, 1899.
The Educational edition of this collection of the great operas. Profusely illustrated with numerous full-page and in-text mezzo and sepia tinted illustrations. 
London: The Societe Universelle Lyrique, 1899. Introduced by Giuseppe Verdi. Includes La Traviata, Tannhauser, Mignon, Faust and Cavalleria with biographical sketches of the composers. Green cover Boards.
James W. Buel was an American journalist and author who lived in the late 19th century. He wrote over 40 books, many of them travelogues and biographies, and was a frequent contributor to national magazines such as Harper's Weekly and The Atlantic Monthly. Buel's writing is characterized by his personal observations and vivid descriptions of people and places, as evidenced in his book Glimpses of America.