Ellen Louisa Davis, "A New Broom" (c.1890)

Ellen Louisa Davis, "A New Broom" (London, The Religious Tract Society, c.1890).  Hardcover, 191 pages (plus a 16-page catalogue of RTS publications bound in at the end), measuring approximately 12.6 x 19 x 2.2cm.  When the Honourable and Reverend Ernest Wootton becomes Rector of Broadenhuish, he encounters opposition from the villagers, whose settled outlook is threatened by his plans to revitalise the worship and mission of his church.  The front endpaper is inscribed: "Presented / To / Reginald Juleff / from the / Summercourt Wesleyan / Sunday School / Feb. 1894".  No dustjacket; the cover is very much worn, marked, faded and discoloured with much of the original surface finish having been worn away, and the binding is loose in places although the pages remain firmly in place; the pages are discoloured with some foxing to the edges and front end pages, together with some other marks, and there is some roughness to a few page edges.