Myths, Legends, and Folk Tales
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WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH (attrib.), but Albrecht von Scharfenberg. Der jüngere Titurel.[Strassburg : 1477
First edition, William Morris's copy of one of the most celebrated Arthurian romances recounting the quest for the Holy Grail. The Grail legend was a profound influence on Morris and, through him, on the Arts and Crafts movement; scenes from Grail literature appear repeatedly in his designs for tapestries, stained glass, and decorative arts, and... Learn More -
TRISTAN & ISEULT. Tristan chevalier de la Table Ronde, nouvellement imprime a Paris.Paris : [about 1506]
The earliest feasibly obtainable French edition, the fourth overall, of the romance of Tristan and Iseult (Isolde), giving Tristan his place among the knights of the Round Table.
Considered the father of the French illustrated book, the Parisian bookseller Antoine Vérard issued four editions of Tristan, the most popular of the chivalric... Learn More -
SPENSER, Edmund. The Faerie Queene. Disposed into twelve books, fashioning XII. Morall Vertues.London : 1590 & 1596
First edition of both parts, printing the complete text of Spenser's classic work, except for two cantos of Mutabilitie which did not appear until the folio edition of 1609; with the first state of the title page. Written in praise of Elizabeth I and dedicated to her, Spenser's allegorical masterpiece follows the adventures of six medieval... Learn More -
SPENSER, Edmund. The Faerie Queene.London : 1596
First complete edition, comprising the first edition of the second part and the second edition of the first part. Written in praise of Elizabeth I and dedicated to her, Spenser's allegorical masterpiece follows the adventures of six medieval knights, drawing on Arthurian legend, Italian romance, classical epic, and Chaucer.
John Dryden... Learn More -
VERSTEGAN, Richard. A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence:London : 1628
Second edition, the first printed in England following original publication in Antwerp in 1605, of this foundational work of Saxon scholarship.
The work contains important material about the Saxons, their language, customs and folklore, some discussion of their Celtic predecessors, and the etymology of Saxon surnames and titles. The first... Learn More -
APOLLONIUS RHODIUS. The Argonautics.London : 1780
First complete edition in English of Apollonius's myth of the Argonauts, the only surviving Hellenistic epic. This translation, by the poet Francis Fawkes, was edited and published posthumously by the classical scholar Henry Meen. Included is Meen's translation of Colluthus's The Rape of Helen, a c.500 AD-prequel to the Iliad and notably one of... Learn More -
ELLIS, George. Specimens of the Early English Metrical Romances,London : 1805
First edition, in a pleasing contemporary binding. Ellis's influential anthology of Middle English romances, collected in form of extracts and paraphrases, was the most extensive survey to date and played a major role in reviving the interest for this literature among the reading public.
In his Specimens of the Early English Metrical... Learn More -
CARPENTER, William. Mneiophele; or, Helps to Memory:London : 1824
Rare first and only edition of this educational book taking the form of a sequence of 379 questions on history, science, foreign languages, and pagan mythology, with the answers at the end of the book, designed for the memorization of facts by rote. Worldcat and Library Hub record only the British Library copy.
No other work, the preface... Learn More -
DOUGLAS, Walter Sholto, as Mary Diana Dods. Tales of the Wild and the Wonderful.London : 1825
First edition of this scarce collection of "historically important" (Bleiler) fairy and mythic tales by a significant writer of the Romantic period. Published anonymously, the collection was previously attributed to George Borrow; however, in 1980 literary scholar Betty T. Bennett confidently tied it to Douglas, using their birth name of Mary... Learn More -
ANDERSEN, Hans Christian. A Danish Story-Book.London : 1846
First Charles Boner edition, the second appearance of Andersen's fairy tales in English. The British market for Andersen was created in 1846 through the efforts of his first three English translators, Mary Howitt, Boner, and Caroline Peachey. Boner's edition is much rarer than its competitors and had the advantage of its "more easily reproducible... Learn More -
HALLIWELL, James Orchard. Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales:London : 1849
First edition of this important little work; scarce in commerce. James Orchard Halliwell (later Halliwell-Philipps, 1820-1889), antiquary and literary scholar, co-founder of both the Percy and Shakespeare Societies, is one of the most significant figures in the codification of English nursery rhymes.
Popular Rhymes was a sequel to his... Learn More -
AINU; HOKKAIDO. Manuscript copy of Ezo-shima kikan ("Curious Sights of the Island of Ezo").[19th century]
A vibrant late-Edo rendition of the most popular early modern work to depict the customs and lifestyles of the Ainu people. This example shows one Ainu creation myth, "The Tale of the Dog Ancestor", traditional Ainu dress such as the sapanpe headband and tamasay necklace, hunting practices, housing, and ceremonies like the Iomante bear... Learn More -
YUNLU (ed.). Qinding Manzhou jishen jitian dianli ("Imperially Commissioned Manchu Rites for Sacrifices to the Spirits and to Heaven").China : [c.1850]
An attractive late-Qing manuscript copy of this important text of Manchu shamanism, including songs, chants, and illustrations of ritual spaces and vessels. For the emperor Qianlong, the longest-serving of the Qing Manchu emperors, this codification project was intertwined with his broader efforts to consolidate political power and "shape the... Learn More -
WILDE, Oscar - WILDE, W. R. Irish Popular Superstitions.Dublin : [1852]
First edition of this collection of essays on Irish folklore by Oscar Wilde's father, William Wilde (1815-76). This book contains chapters on "The May-Day Festival in Ireland" and "Fairy Archaeology and Medico-Religious Ceremonies". Some chapters appeared in the Dublin University Magazine ahead of this collection.
The elder Wilde was a... Learn More -
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys.Boston : 1852
First edition of Hathorne's re-telling of ancient myths, first state with "lifed" (for "lifted") at page 21, line 3; there are various colours of cloth without priority. Learn More -
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Tanglewood Tales, for Girls and Boys;Boston : 1853
First US edition, first issue, of Hawthorne's sequel to The Wonder Book (Boston, 1852), retelling the Greek myths for children. This copy has a loosely inserted envelope addressed to the publisher, penned and initialled by Hawthorne.
This edition, preceded only by the UK edition of the same year, has the following issue points: the... Learn More -
GOVER, Charles E. The Folk-Songs of Southern India.Madras : 1871
First edition, scarce in commerce, of Grover's collection of popular songs alongside explanatory text. "His collection of fast-disappearing indigenous material has continued to be of great value to scholars, as testified in the 1959 reprint in Madras of The Folk-Songs" (ODNB)
Charles Edward Grover (1835-1872) was one of the first... Learn More -
SKENE, William F. Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alban.Edinburgh : 1876-77-80
First edition of Skene's magnum opus "for which he had prepared all his life". Telling the story of Scottish history up to 1286, "Skene accomplished more for the annals of his native country than any other contemporary writer. He effectively opened out to view a period of more than five centuries, from the reign of Malcolm Canmore back to the time... Learn More -
DAY, Lal Behari. Folk-Tales of Bengal.London : 1883
First edition of this collection inspired by the philological investigations of the brothers Grimm. Lal Behari Day, a reverend linked to the Free Church of Scotland, gathered these tales from Bengal's expansive oral storytelling tradition, speaking to an elderly Christian woman, brahmins, a barber, and a former servant.
Day (1824-1894)... Learn More -
FOLKARD, Richard. Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics.London : 1884
First edition of the author's magnum opus, a "most useful compendium" of every cultural myth or legend on plants that he could source (The Folk-Lore Journal, p. 94). The book is a monumental reference work key to plant lore divided into two sections, the first a thematic overview, the second an alphabetical listing of 600 plants with their... Learn More
