Legendary Ballads

Original publisher's red cloth binding with gilt lettering on front cover and spine. Gilt decoration of a man on horseback fighting a dragon on front cover. 7" x 9 1/2." 180 pages, complete. Ten full-page, color plates by Byam Shaw, complete. Three additional pages in the back comprising the Glossary. Pages and covers are very clean and intact. Pages have slight wear to the edges, slight age toning, and the occasional small mark or smudge in the margins. Covers have minuscule wear to corners and head and tail of spine. A Fine copy. A collection of legends as told in the form of the ballad. Each ballad, with the exception of two, came from Thomas Percy's "Folio MS [manuscript]" of his famous ballad compilation, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765). Byam Shaw (1872-1919), also known as John Byam Shaw, was a British artist who worked in the disciplines of painting, illustration, and design. He used a variety of media such as oil paints, watercolors, pastels, and pen and ink. Not to be confused with his sons, Glen and James, who also used "Byam Shaw" as a surname. Introduction by Frank Sidgwick, in which he discusses the history of the ballad and the provenance of this book. Thomas Percy (1729-1811) was an Irish bishop and man of letters. His Reliques of Ancient English Poetry was derived from several sources. The following ballads are in this book: "St. George and the Dragon," "Robin Hood and Sir Guy," "The Boy and the Mantle," "The Marriage of Sir Gawaine," "Sir Cauline," "King John and the Abbot of Canterbury," "Chevy Chace," "The Rising in the North," "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas," "Edom o'Gordon," "Mary Ambree," "Brave Lord Willoughby," "The King of France's Daughter," "The Winning of Cales," "The Children in the Wood," "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor," "Old Robin of Portingale," "A Ballad of Luther, the Pope, a Cardinal, and a Husbandman," "The Lady Isabella's Tragedy," "Margaret's Ghost," "The King of Scots and Andrew Browne," "The Braes of Yarrow," "The Heir of Linne," and "Sir Andrew Barton." Printed by the Arden Press of Letchworth, England.…