Pope Leo XIII: His Life and Letters, From Recent and Authentic Sources (often attributed to editors like James F. Talbot, published around 1886) is a comprehensive biography and collection of documents detailing the early life, career, and initial papacy of Pope Leo XIII. The book offers an in-depth, sympathetic, and detailed look at his rise from Cardinal Pecci to his election in 1878. The work serves as an important historical document, presenting a 'recent and authentic' view of the Pope's actions, and the challenges faced by the Church, such as the rise of socialism and the role of the Church in modern society, as discussed in his later 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum.