Angels and Insects

First edition. 8vo. Pp. [viii], 292. B/w line illustrs. Red cloth boards, lettered in gilt to spine. Red-stained top edge; sewn-in red ribbon page marker. Jacket illustration by Norman Adams. A limited edition of 150 numbered copies were issued concurrently by London Limited Editions in conjunction with the publisher.

Signed by Author to title-page.

A pair of novellas, set in Victorian England. Morpho Eugenia is a gothic tale that melds Darwinian theories of breeding and sexuality with the insect world. The Conjugal Angel centres on Tennyson's In Memoriam and mourns the death of a friend who was engaged to Tennyson's sister. Basis for the 1995 film by the same name directed by Philip Haas, starring Mark Rylance and Kirstin Scott-Thomas. "[D]elicate and confidently ironic. Byatt perfectly blends laughter and sympathy [with] extraordinary sensuality." –San Francisco Examiner