VINTAGE: The Last Days of Pompeii, by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Spencer Press c. 1936. This is volume 16 in World's Greatest Literature series, 399 pages, 8.25 x 6 x 1.5 inches; 1 lbs., 6 oz. [41] 

CONDITION: Overall.good condition for its age: Covers are a bit dogeared, spine and binding are unbroken, and pages are clean-cut but yellowed with age. There are two letters and two numerals written inside the front cover.

CONTENTS: See photo of Table of Contents. According to Wikipedia, “The novel uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of 1st-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome, and his nemesis, Arbaces, the still older culture of Egypt. Olin thus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favorably but not uncritically…

"PLOT SUMMARY: Pompeii, A.D. 79. Athenian nobleman Glaucus arrives in the bustling and gaudy Roman town and quickly falls in love with the beautiful Greek Ione. Ione's former guardian, the malevolent Egyptian sorcerer Arbaces, has designs on Ione and sets out to destroy their budding happiness. Arbaces has already ruined Ione's sensitive brother Apaecides by luring him to join the vice-ridden priesthood of Isis. The blind slave Nydia is rescued from her abusive owners, Burbo and Stratonice, by Glaucus, for whom she secretly pines. Arbaces horrifies Ione by declaring his love for her, and flying into a rage when she refuses him. Glaucus and Apaecides rescue her from his grip, but Arbaces is struck down by an earthquake, a sign of Vesuvius' coming eruption.

"Glaucus and Ione exult in their love, much to Nydia's torment, while Apaecides finds a new religion in Christianity. Nydia unwittingly helps Julia, a rich young woman who has eyes for Glaucus, obtain a love potion from Arbaces to win Glaucus's love. But the love potion is really a poison that will turn Glaucus mad. Nydia steals the potion and administers it; Glaucus drinks only a small amount and begins raving wildly. Apaecides and Olinthus, an early Christian, determine to publicly reveal the deception of the cult of Isis. Arbaces, recovered from his wounds, overhears and stabs Apaecides to death; he then pins the crime on Glaucus, who has stumbled onto the scene. Arbaces has himself declared the legal guardian of Ione, who is convinced that Arbaces is her brother's murderer, and imprisons her at his mansion. He also imprisons Nydia, who discovers that there is an eyewitness to the murder who can prove Glaucus's innocence—the priest Calenus, who is yet a third prisoner of Arbaces. She smuggles a letter to Glaucus's friend Sallust, begging him to rescue them.

"Glaucus is convicted of the murder of Apaecides, Olinthus of heresy, and their sentence is to be fed to wild cats in the amphitheatre. All Pompeii gathers in the amphitheatre for the bloody gladiatorial games. Just as Glaucus is led into the arena with the lion—who, distressed by awareness of the coming eruption, spares his life and returns to his cage—Sallust bursts into the arena and reveals Arbaces's plot. The crowd demands that Arbaces be thrown to the lion, but it is too late: Vesuvius begins to erupt. Ash and stone rain down, causing mass panic. Glaucus rescues Ione from the house of Arbaces, but in the chaotic streets they meet Arbaces, who tries to seize Ione but is killed by a lightning strike. Nydia leads Glaucus and Ione to safety on a ship in the Bay of Naples, as because of her blindness she is used to going about in utter darkness while sighted people are made helpless in the cloud of volcanic dust. The next morning, she commits suicide by quietly slipping into the sea; death is preferable to the agony of her unrequited love for Glaucus… Ten years pass, and Glaucus writes to Sallust, now living in Rome, of his and Ione's happiness in Athens. They have built Nydia a tomb and adopted Christianity."

AUTHOR: According to Wikipedia, “Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 1803 – 18 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies from June 1858 to June 1859, choosing Richard Clement Moody as founder of British Columbia… Bulwer-Lytton's works sold and paid him well. He coined famous phrases like ‘the great unwashed’, ‘pursuit of the almighty dollar’, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’, ‘dweller on the threshold’, and the opening phrase ‘It was a dark and stormy night.’ The sardonic Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, held annually since 1982, claims to seek the ‘opening sentence of the worst of all possible novels’.”

ILLUSTRATIONS: Only one illustration at the front of the book (see photos).

About the Spencer Press: According to the introduction, ‘The avowed purpose of the Spencer Press is to publish classics which have survived the test of time. The world’s Greatest Literature series was designed to form the cornerstone of a fine home library of books that were sufficiently thrilling and popular in their appeal to capture the imaginations and interest of every member of the family. For more information about the Spencer Press, google “series of series.owu.edu spencer-library”. The first volume of the series was probably published about 1936 judging from the propaganda pages at the front of the book.