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The Dolly Dialogues — cover
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Aeneas Press edition Edwardian

The Dolly Dialogues

by Anthony Hope 1863–1933

The book, and the century it came out of.

Mr Carter and Miss Dolly Foster talk — about her engagement, his losses, other people’s marriages — in a series of dialogues in which nothing is said outright and everything is understood. Hope was a barrister who thought up The Prisoner of Zenda walking home from a court case and wrote it in a month; these 1894 sketches are the other half of his talent, and they are as good as light writing gets. Illustrated with 59 full-page plates — paintings by Manet, De Nittis and Béraud among them.

“There’s ingratitude for you!” Miss Dolly Foster exclaimed suddenly.
The first sentence of The Dolly Dialogues
A note on this edition

The Dolly Dialogues, by Anthony Hope, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.

It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.

The edition
Format
Ebook
Extent
about 80 pages
Reading time
about 2 hours
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785486597718
The plates

59 paintings are bound into this edition

Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.

At the Père Lathuille Restaurant, Édouard Manet
At the Père Lathuille Restaurant Édouard Manet 1879
Notre-Dame, vue de la rue de l’Hôtel-Colbert, Emile Antoine Guillier
Notre-Dame, vue de la rue de l’Hôtel-Colbert Emile Antoine Guillier 1880
Rue de l’Hermitage, Pontoise, Effect of Snow, Camille Pissarro
Rue de l’Hermitage, Pontoise, Effect of Snow Camille Pissarro 1879
Dans la galerie de Dresde, Karl Louis Preusser
Dans la galerie de Dresde Karl Louis Preusser 1881
Near the Lake, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Near the Lake Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1879
Chestnut Trees at Louveciennes, Camille Pissarro
Chestnut Trees at Louveciennes Camille Pissarro 1879
The setting

A page from this edition

Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.

A page of The Dolly Dialogues as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of The Dolly Dialogues as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

The Dolly Dialogues, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Comedy & Satire shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.

Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785486597718, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.

Before you buy

Questions readers ask

Is this the whole of The Dolly Dialogues?
Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
What exactly did you change?
The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. Anthony Hope's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
Are the pictures really in the book?
Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
How long is it?
About 80 pages, which is roughly about 2 hours of reading.
What do I actually get?
An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
If this one suits you
The Dolly Dialogues
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