1906 Scarce First Edition - North Cornwall Fairies and Legends by E. Tregarthen

An attractive first edition of this wonderfully evocative collection of Cornish fairy lore, bringing together thirteen tales of piskies, enchanted places and supernatural traditions from North Cornwall, illustrated throughout and retaining the publisher’s distinctive gilt pictorial cloth.

Author: Enys Tregarthen, pseudonym of Nellie Sloggett (1850–1923). With an introduction by Howard Fox, F.G.S.
Title: North Cornwall Fairies and Legends.
Publisher: London: Wells Gardner, Darton & Co., Ltd., 3 Paternoster Buildings, E.C., 1906.
Edition: First Edition, 1906. This copy bears the publisher’s “OFFICE COPY” stamp on the first blank leaf, as shown.
Language: Text in English.
Pages: xiv, 192 pages, plus final leaf.
Size: Approximately 7 x 5 inches.
Binding: Very good original publisher’s red cloth, richly decorated and lettered in gilt to the front board, with a charming pictorial design of fairy figures gathered around a globe. Gilt lettering and decoration to the spine. Top edge gilt, with black-coated endpapers. Some expected rubbing and handling marks to the cloth, light fading and dulling to the spine, and minor wear at the extremities, but the binding remains firm, attractive and well preserved. Protected in a removable mylar cover. 
Content: Very good. The preliminary and terminal leaves show pronounced age toning, particularly the leaves surrounding the black endpapers, with occasional light foxing elsewhere, as shown. The main body of the book remains generally clean and well preserved. The first blank leaf is stamped “OFFICE COPY,” an appealing publisher’s provenance feature.
Illustrations: Illustrated throughout with numerous black-and-white photographic and reproduced illustrations, including a frontispiece of Tintagel Castle and atmospheric views and scenes associated with the Cornish legends. The author acknowledges photographic and illustrative material supplied by Ivy Fox, Miss Preston, Miss M. Rawle and others.

Estimate: USD $325–350.

The book: North Cornwall Fairies and Legends gathers thirteen traditional and literary tales rooted in the folklore of Cornwall, where piskies, enchanted landscapes and supernatural happenings remained deeply woven into local storytelling. Among the tales are The Adventures of a Piskey in Search of His Laugh, The Legend of the Padstow Doombar, The Piskeys’ Revenge, The Old Sky Woman, The Little Horses and Horsemen of Padstow, How Jan Brewer Was Piskey-Laden, The Small People’s Fair, and The Fairy Whirlwind.

Tregarthen’s stories are particularly appealing for the way they anchor fairy lore in recognizable Cornish places, customs and oral traditions. The accompanying photographs and illustrations reinforce that sense of place, linking the imaginary world of piskies and “small people” with Tintagel, Padstow and the rugged landscape of North Cornwall. The publisher’s Office Copy designation gives this particular example an additional bibliographical interest.

The author: Enys Tregarthen was the pseudonym of Nellie Sloggett (1850–1923), an English writer closely associated with the preservation and literary retelling of Cornish folklore. Her work drew extensively upon the legends, superstitions and oral traditions of Cornwall, particularly stories concerning piskies and other supernatural beings. She also wrote The Piskey-Purse, referenced on the title page of the present volume.

Her writing belongs to the late Victorian and Edwardian revival of interest in regional folklore, fairy belief and Celtic tradition. Rather than presenting fairy tales as wholly imaginary creations, Tregarthen frequently places them within specific communities and landscapes, preserving something of the atmosphere and vocabulary of Cornish storytelling at a moment when many such traditions were beginning to disappear.