1897 Scarce Edition - The Heroes of Asgard by A. & E. Keary Illustrated by Huard

Author: Annie Keary & Eliza Keary. Illustrated by Huard.
Title: The Heroes of Asgard. Tales from Scandinavian Mythology.
Publisher: London: Macmillan and Co., Limited; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1897.
Language: Text in English.
Size: Crown octavo (7.5 x 5.25 inches).
Pages: 323 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good publisher’s original light blue-grey pictorial cloth binding, front board and spine beautifully illustrated and lettered in gilt and red, depicting a giant bending toward a diminutive figure of Thor. The spine features a delicate vignette of a Norse figure and gilt lettering (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing and toning - as shown, a neat early ownership inscription (“Elias Brotherton”) on the front free endpaper -  as shown). A very good and well-preserved copy. 
Illustrations: Illustrated throughout with seven full-page plates by Huard, including “Freyja in the Dwarfs’ Cave,” “Giant Suttung and the Dwarfs,” and “The Punishment of Loki.” 

Estimate: (USD 200 – 300).

The book: A scarce and charming late 19th-century Macmillan edition of The Heroes of Asgard, a classic retelling of Norse mythology designed for young readers. Originally published in 1870, this 1897 reprint preserves Huard’s atmospheric engravings and the elegant Art Nouveau-inspired binding that captures the mythic tone of the tales. The Keary sisters’ rendition of the Eddic stories—Odin’s wisdom, Thor’s strength, Loki’s mischief, and the tragic twilight of the gods—bridged Victorian morality with the raw grandeur of the North, shaping early English understanding of Scandinavian myth long before Tolkien and Lewis revived these legends.

The book’s decorative binding is particularly desirable: its restrained composition and bold figures combine late Victorian illustrative sensibility with the allure of mythological romance.

The authors: Annie Keary (1825–1879) and Eliza Keary (1827–1918) were English novelists and poets known for their literary reinterpretations of myth and legend. Their collaborative works, especially The Heroes of Asgard, are notable for bringing Norse mythology to a Victorian readership in a form both faithful and engaging. Annie Keary’s prose and Eliza’s poetic sensibility combined to create narratives of moral strength and imaginative power that influenced later mythographers and fantasy writers.