TALES OF THE WILD AND WONDERFUL

[Lyndsay, David]; [Douglas, Walter Sholto]; [Dods, Mary Diana]; [Shelley, Mary]. Tales of the Wild and Wonderful.London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1825.

$3250.

Octavo, measuring 7.75 x 4.75 inches: x, [2], 356. Original drab paper boards, blue cloth spine, publisher’s printed spine label, text block uncut. Early ink owner signature to front pastedown, early bookseller description (misattributing authorship to George Borrow, as formerly believed) laid in. Joints cracked but holding, spine chipped, scattered foxing to first and last pages. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First edition of this anonymously published collection of weird tales, one of only two books by Walter Sholto Douglas, born Mary Diana Dods, who would later live as a man with the help of Mary Shelley. This collection includes five tales in the gothic and fairy tale traditions, among them “The Prediction,” a dark tale of a country woman defying the power of the local tyrant, and “The Lord of the Maelstrom,” a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast legend against the backdrop of Norse mythology. A scarce collection by an increasingly recognized gender-nonconforming author, in original boards.

If offered, please contact:

Honey & Wax Booksellers, ABAA

540 President Street, Third Floor

Brooklyn NY 11215

917-974-2420

heather@honeyandwaxbooks.com

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