Narrative

Pilgrim's Progress

5. Despite the increase in extensive and secular reading throughout the Romantic period, many people tended to read intensively, repeatedly referring back to the same works, especially select religious books such as the Bible and Pilgrim’s Progress. The incorporation of an index, as in the previous example, is indicative of such use. The copy here is bound in full calf and was clearly handled repeatedly, likely read individually but possibly also for or with others. The worn state of the binding along with the use of expensive ‘full calf’ likely speaks to the value of the work to a middle- or upper-class reader.