[Printed pamphlet in the series of 'Haughton's Popular Illustrated Biographies'.] The Life of Thomas Carlyle. [With steel engraved portrait.]

16pp., 8vo. Disbound. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Steel engraved portrait of Carlyle on title-page. Clearly produced immediately following Carlyle's death, as the commencement indicates: 'On a cold wintry Monday morning in February the Times announced that Thomas Carlyle was seriously ill. A similar statement had been often made for two or three years before, and the public thought that it was a mere repetition of an old rumour.' Unusually well-written for such an ephemeral item, as the following paragraph (p.15) shows: 'Thomas Carlyle passed away very quietly one cold Saturday morning in February. Dean Stanley offered a resting-place for the body in Westminster Abbey, but those acquainted with Carlyle's manner of thought and life knew that he would never repose in the Abbey. He came from the hills, and he wished to go back to the hills. It was in harmony with his whole career that he chose to be buried in the churchyard of his native village. His wishes were carried out, and there was no pomp or show. The body was conveyed from London by train so quietly that even journalists did not know the time that all that was mortal of Thomas Carlyle had been removed from Cheyne-row. The procession consisted simply of the humble hearse, two mourning coaches, and three private carriages. The coffin was taken out of the hearse and carried to the grave by four under-bearers. It was covered by a thick, black velvet pall, lined with white satin. In solemn silence it was laid on the turf, while the mourners grouped themselves around it. After a few silent moments the coffin was lowered into the grave, some wreaths from the relatives of John Sterling, some everlasting flowers - emblems of his fame - were placed on the coffin. And there was another awful pause, and the dull sound of the soil falling on the lid was heard. And then the last remains of Thomas Carlyle were hidden from the world for ever - without a word of prayer, without a line of service, without a sentence of commendation from the illustrious men who stood sorrowing around. Never before, perhaps, was a public man buried in so private a way.' Scarce: the only copies on COPAC at the British Library and in the National Trust collections.