1823 Scarce Book - Robin Hood: A Collection of the Ancient Poems, Songs, Ballads

Author: Joseph Ritson.
Title: Robin Hood: A Collection of all the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, Now Extant, Relative to that Celebrated English Outlaw: To which are Prefixed Historical Anecdotes of His Life.
Publisher: London, Printed for C. Stocking, 3 Paternoster-Row, by J. and C. Adlard, Bartholomew-close, 1823.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 6 X 4 inches.
Pages: lxxiv-240 pages. 
Binding: Attractive and very good later 19th-century half calf leather binding over marbled boards. Spine with raised bands, gilt ornamentation, and a black morocco label titled "ROBIN HOOD" in gilt (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, some foxing, toning and staining mainly on the preliminary and last pages - as shown).
Illustrations: Illustrated with charming wood engravings, including several vignette illustrations throughout the text, enhancing the medieval ballad atmosphere.

Estimate: (USD 300–400).

The book: A scarce and desirable early 19th-century edition of the Robin Hood ballads, edited by the antiquary Joseph Ritson. This important collection helped revive interest in the legendary outlaw and preserve the oral ballad tradition of England. First published in 1795, Ritson’s Robin Hood became the standard for scholarly editions of the Robin Hood legends, drawing from early manuscripts, broadsides, and rare printed sources. The 1823 edition offered here is a particularly collectible printing, attractively bound and printed during the Romantic era resurgence of interest in medieval and folk literature.

The author: Joseph Ritson (1752–1803) was a pioneering English antiquary, scholar, and collector of folk literature and song. Known for his meticulous accuracy and passionate nature, Ritson brought academic rigor to the study of popular culture. His edition of Robin Hood was the first to seriously treat the outlaw's ballads as a subject worthy of historical and literary scholarship, and it played a key role in shaping the modern perception of Robin Hood as a folk hero.