Cloth binding for Eliot’s ‘Silas Marner’

Hugh Thomson

1907

Cloth binding

7¼ x 4¾ inches

This charming gilt design acts as an illustration of the scenes in the text where Eppie is left to play as Silas works on his loom. Thomson characterizes the two main figures and emphasises the importance of Silas’s work by showing the loom as the defining motif, an industrial device that contrasts with the old-fashioned spinning wheel contained within the letter ‘S’. [Commentary continues below.]

Scan and text by Simon Cooke [Click on image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]