The Poems of Ossian, Volumes I, II and III

Complete in three volumes.  xii, 236pp; [2], 254pp; [2], 270pp.  All three volumes uniformly bound in full brown calf’s leather.  24mo. Boards are very heavily worn, chipped and marked, heavily rubbed – right through in places – on all edges.  Upper panel on volume one detached.  Volumes two and three have been previously, clumsily, repairs with brown canvas over spines and now lack their lower red leather spine labels (all upper spine labels present).  Text block edges dark.  Endpapers show a little damp damage; the rear free endpaper in volume two is creased and partially detached.  Volume one has a previous owner’s name inked on the front free endpaper..  Some mild and occasional spotting to first and last few leaves in each volume else internally neat, clean and tight.  

This early, complete set of the Poems of Ossian is suitable for restoration and/or rebinding.  

A cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson (1736-1796), originally under the titles Fingal (1761) and Temora (1783), and only later combined as the Poes of Ossian.  Macpherson claimed to have collected the poetry from ancient sources and that the work was his translation of that material. Some contemporary critics believed this but the current concensus is that that Macpherson largely wrote the poems himself, drawing on traditional Gaelic poetry.  The work was popular at the time of publication and translated into many languages in the late 18th century: it was highly influentual in the development of the Romantic movement and the Gaelic Revival; and Macpherson’s reputation as a literary great was sealed by his burial in Westminster Abbey alongside other literary greats.