Description
Colin Smythe Limited, Published 2002. Paperback, 40, xxiv, 427 pp.; 22 cm; foreword by Barbara Hayley; facsimile of the 'Definitive Edition' first published in 23 parts 1842-44, Volume 1 of the two-volume edition of 1843; this facsimile first published 1990, reprinted 2002; illustrated with 23 etchings on wood and steel by Phiz, Sibson, Wrightson, Franklin, MacManus, Lee and Gilbert, including a frontispiece portrait of the author, with an engraved pictorial title page and wood-engraved chapter headings and vignettes throughout. Volume 1 only; Volume 2 not included.
Condition & notes
In very good condition. Glossy illustrated paper covers, pale green with a colored engraving of a country dance on the front cover, light bumping increasing at edges and corners, mild shelf and edge wear. Hodges Figgis (Dublin) price sticker on rear cover. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. [From back cover] Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry can be considered William Carleton's greatest work. It went through a number of transformations before the 'Definitive Edition' was published in 1842-44. This edition was the last that Carleton actually oversaw, and thus it is the culmination of his own work on the collection, and for this reason is the edition we publish. This edition also contains a wealth of illustrations by famous illustrators of the time. They give a good impression of the tales themselves, being crowded with laughing, weeping, fighting, working, playing, dying, and praying peasants in sublime scenery, poverty-stricken cottages, cosy public houses, trim farms, broken-down barns, hillside chapels, hedge schools, and hovels. The inhabitants of Carleton's world are villains, scholars, horse-thieves, pig-drivers, priests, farmers and shopkeepers. He aimed to show the Irish peasant honestly to the world, choosing simple, strong plots. . . This is the only complete printing of the 'Definitive Edition' presently available. Contents of the First Volume: Auto-Biographical Introduction; Ned M'Keown; The Three Tasks; Shane Fadh's Wedding; Larry M'Farland's Wake; The Battle of the Factions; The Station; The Party Fight and Funeral; The Lough Derg Pilgrim; The Hedge School; The Midnight Mass; The Donagh, or the Horse-Stealers; Phil Purcel the Pig-Driver.
