William Tell; or Swisserland Delivered

London: Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1809. First English language edition. Very Good. Translated into English by William Hewetson. Contemporary quarter calf over brown paper-covered boards. Plain end papers. Early gift inscription and other signs of ownership on the end papers and first blank. Bound without the half-title, but retaining the frontis illustration and one page of ads at the back (lacking 2 additional leaves of ads). Collating: xxxvi, 115, [1, ads]. One of two variant imprints with no clear priority (the other in the same year from Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper), OCLC reports 4 institutional copies overall, only one of those matching our imprint. A Very Good copy overall with some rubbing to the boards and wear at the corners, but the text generally clean and with minimal foxing or staining.

The first appearance in English of the story of the "Swiss legendary hero who symbolized the struggle for political and individual freedom...According to popular legend, William Tell was a peasant from Burglen who defied Austrian authority, was forced to shoot an apple from his son's head, was arrested for threatening the governor's life, saved that same governor's life en route to prison, and ultimately killed the governor in an ambush. These events supposedly helped to spur the people to rise up against Austrian rule" (Britannica). While the folklore surrounding Tell was a largely regional phenomenon in its early iterations, "in the early Romantic era of nationalist revolutions, the Tell legend attained worldwide renown through the stirring play Wilhelm Tell (1804)" -- and his influence spread into the English speaking regions with the help of the present translation (Britannica). Very Good. (Inventory #: 6885)