Stepping Heavenward — Elizabeth Prentiss, c. 1900 Antique Hardcover, Christmas Inscription (Antique Book)

Inside the front cover, in careful cursive:

Merry Christmas
To Arcele
from
Aunt Merg

We don’t know who Arcele was. We don’t know Aunt Merg. We don’t know which Christmas this was — though the handwriting and the book itself suggest sometime around the turn of the century, when this edition was likely new. What we know is that someone thought enough of someone else to give them this book as a gift, and that the book has survived more than a hundred years to arrive here.

Stepping Heavenward was written by Elizabeth Prentiss and first published in 1869. It is a novel in diary form — the spiritual and emotional journey of a young woman named Katy, told across decades of her life. It was one of the most widely read Christian novels of the Victorian era, selling hundreds of thousands of copies and remaining in print continuously for over 150 years. It was the kind of book that mothers gave daughters, aunts gave nieces, and friends gave friends at Christmas.

This edition features the characteristic gift-book binding of the late 19th to early 20th century: teal cloth spine, cream embossed cover with a decorative shield cartouche surrounded by floral and vine motifs in teal and gilt, the title and author’s name set within. The binding is tight. The pages are complete and legible throughout, with the warm toning of paper that has been resting quietly for over a century.

• Title: Stepping Heavenward
• Author: Elizabeth Prentiss
• Edition: c. 1900 — late Victorian / Edwardian gift edition
• Binding: Teal cloth spine, embossed cream cover with floral cartouche
• Inscription: “Merry Christmas / To Arcele / from / Aunt Merg” — period handwriting
• Condition: Good for age — binding tight, pages complete, honest exterior wear
• One available