1825 Rare Book - The Poems of Ossian by James Macpherson

Author: James Macpherson (translator).
Title: The Poems of Ossian.
Publisher: London, for the Proprietors of the English Classics (Baynes and Son et al.), 1825.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 5 x 3 inches.
Pages: 422 pages.
Binding: Attractive and near fine binding, finely bound in full red morocco, richly gilt with elaborate decorative borders to boards and spine compartments, spine lettered “Ossian’s Poems” and dated 1825 (hinges fine, overall slightly scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges marbled. An elegant, near-fine binding.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing and toning - as shown).
Illustrations: Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece and an additional engraved title page. Complete.

Estimate: (USD 300–350).

The book: Macpherson’s Poems of Ossian, first published in the later eighteenth century, became one of the most influential literary sensations of its age, shaping Romantic conceptions of the sublime, the heroic, and the melancholy past. Presented as translations of ancient Gaelic bardic poetry attributed to the legendary Ossian, the work evokes a mist-shrouded heroic world of warriors, ghosts, and tragic love. This compact 1825 English Classics edition, beautifully preserved in a sumptuous contemporary red morocco binding with marbled edges, offers a particularly appealing Victorian presentation of the text, uniting classical typography with richly decorative craftsmanship.

The author: James Macpherson (1736–1796) was a Scottish poet and antiquarian who achieved international fame with his “translations” of Ossianic verse. Though later controversy arose over their authenticity, the poems profoundly influenced European Romanticism, inspiring writers such as Goethe, Napoleon, and Chateaubriand, and helping to popularize a romantic vision of the ancient Celtic past.