1890 Rare Book - The Lady of the Lake: A Poem by Sir Walter Scott

An attractive late nineteenth-century American edition of Sir Walter Scott’s celebrated Highland romance, preserved in its richly decorated publisher’s cloth with all edges gilt and the original frontispiece.

Author: Sir Walter Scott.
Title: The Lady of the Lake: A Poem.
Publisher: New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 46 East Fourteenth Street, undated [late 19th century - 1890]. 
Edition: Undated American edition (1890).
Language: English.
Pages: 300 pages.
Size: 7.5 x 5 inches.
Binding: Very good original olive-green publisher’s cloth, elaborately decorated to the front board and spine with floral designs and lettering in gilt, black and pale orange. All edges gilt. Light rubbing and minor marks consistent with age, particularly at the spine ends and extremities, while the decorative work remains notably bright and attractive. Protected in a removable mylar cover. 
Content: Very good content, clean and well preserved, with light age toning. Printed within distinctive red ruled borders throughout. Includes Scott’s introduction, the complete poem in six cantos, and an extensive appendix of historical and literary notes.
Illustrations: Complete with the black-and-white frontispiece illustration depicting Ellen seated beside the minstrel beneath a tree, captioned “Upon a rock with lichens wild, Beside him Ellen sate and smiled.”

Estimate: $135–150 USD.

The book:
First published in 1810, The Lady of the Lake became one of Sir Walter Scott’s great popular successes and helped establish the romantic image of the Scottish Highlands for generations of readers. Set amid the lochs, mountains and clan rivalries of the Trossachs, the narrative poem follows Ellen Douglas and the intertwined fortunes of James Fitz-James, Roderick Dhu and Malcolm Graeme, combining romance, disguise, political conflict and Highland legend.

This Crowell edition is particularly appealing as a decorative Victorian book. The restrained olive-green cloth is enlivened by an elaborate floral design in gilt and contrasting colours, while the gilt page edges and red borders surrounding the text give the volume a distinctly ornamental character. It is a handsome example of the late nineteenth-century American tradition of presenting Scott’s classics as decorative gift books.

The author:
Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) was a Scottish novelist, poet, historian and antiquarian whose works transformed the historical novel and helped shape the nineteenth century’s fascination with Scotland. His early narrative poems, including The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Marmion and The Lady of the Lake, brought him international fame before he turned increasingly to fiction.

Beginning with Waverley in 1814, Scott produced a remarkable series of historical novels whose influence extended across Europe and America. His ability to combine historical events, folklore, landscape and memorable fictional characters made him one of the most widely read authors of his age and a foundational figure in historical fiction.