YEATS, W. B. Irish Fairy and Folk Tales. (First edition)

Selected and edited, with an introduction, by W. B. Yeats. Twelve illustrations by James Torrance. London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, [1895]. First American illustrated edition. Crown 8vo. pp. xviii, 326, with twelve full-page illustrations by James Torrance. Original cream pictorial cloth, elaborately blocked in red and gilt, with pictorial design repeated on spine; all edges gilt. Cloth somewhat age-toned and lightly rubbed, spine lettering dulled, otherwise a very good sound copy.

An attractive early illustrated edition of one of Yeats’s most important contributions to the Irish Literary Revival. The collection gathers traditional tales of the trooping and solitary fairies, changelings, ghosts, witches, fairy doctors, saints, giants, kings and warriors, combining material from earlier folklorists with Yeats’s own contributions, including The Stolen Child and The Priest of Coloony.

The illustrated edition was first issued by Walter Scott in 1893 with twelve plates by the Scottish artist James Torrance. The American edition followed in 1895, Charles Scribner’s Sons importing the English sheets and binding them in the United States. The National Library of Ireland records the illustrated issue as xviii, 326 pages, while institutional copies of the 1893 issue likewise contain twelve plates.

A particularly appealing early Yeats volume in its original decorative publisher’s binding.

[L4 Yeats]