WILTSHIRE TALES. London: John Russell Smith, 36, Soho Square, 1853. 12mo, pp. [i-v] vi [vii-viii] [1] 2-179 [180: blank] [1]-10: ads, two small illustrations, one on the title page, the other a tailpiece on page 179, original decorated blue cloth, front and rear panels stamped in blind, spine panel stamped in gold, all edges untrimmed, yellow coated endpapers. First edition. A collection of tales of rustic life in Wiltshire, a rural county in southwest England. Most of the stories are humorous or criminous, the latter featuring various young men born to be hung. One story, "Wat Sannell's Ride to Highworth: A Legend of the Days of James the First," is a good supernatural story in which a drunk is cursed by a witch. John Yonge Akerman (1806–1873) was an English antiquarian specializing in numismatics. He published some fiction, including three collections of short stories, LEGENDS OF OLD LONDON (1853) and his best known work, TALES OF OTHER DAYS (1830), the latter under his initials "J. Y. A.," and a novel, THE ADOPTED SON, A LEGEND OF THE REBELLION OF JACK CADE (1842), under the pseudonym Paul Pindar. Early owner's penciled signature on the front free endpaper. Cloth lightly worn at spine ends and corner tips, a bit of rubbing along bottom edge, some minor scattered spotting to text block, a very good copy. (#157187).
Price: $150.00
No statement of printing.