The Danes Sketched by Themselves (in 3 vols.)
- London: Richard Bentley, 1864
London: Richard Bentley, 1864. First U.K. edition. Fine. Three octavo volumes (7 7/8 x 4 15/16 inches; 200 x 125 mm.). [2, publisher’s advertisements], [6], 312; [4], 303, [1, blank]; [4], 303, [1, blank] pp. Original terra cotta pebble-grain cloth with covers decoratively stamped in blind and spines ruled, decoratively stamped, and lettered in gilt. Original cream-colored endpapers. Some very faint marks on the front covers, where there must once have been library labels, the absolute minimum of rubbing to corners, some minor foxing to top edge. A truly spectacular copy.
First English edition of this collection of Danish tales and verse, selected and translated by Anne Bushby (d.1875), who had known Anderson since 1847. Busby believed that Anderson's work surpassed the category of children's literature. In this translation she offered a new take on the source material by adapting the language for a Victorian British audience (Viggo Hjørnager Pedersen). Many of the stories were first published in New Monthly Magazine, but were compiled for this volume as a celebration of Danish literature. The text includes stories and poems by Hans Christian Andersen (“Morten Langè. A Christmas Story” - volume I, pp. 199-208, and “The Man from Paradise. A Comic Tale” - volume I, pp. 305-312); Carl Bernhard (“Cousin Carl,” “Aunt Francisca,” “Damon and Pythas,” and “The Bankrupt”); Bernard Severin Ingemann (“The Doomed House,” “The Secret Witness,” “All Souls’ Day,” “The Aged Rabbi. A Jewish Tale,” and “The Death Ship”); Carit Etlar (“Too Old,” “The Shipwrecked Mariner’s Treasure,” and “Twice Sacrificed”); H.P. Holst (“Lisette’s Castles in the Air”), Adam Oehlenschlager (“Death and His Victims”), and others.
Not in Sadleir or Wolff. Fine.
First English edition of this collection of Danish tales and verse, selected and translated by Anne Bushby (d.1875), who had known Anderson since 1847. Busby believed that Anderson's work surpassed the category of children's literature. In this translation she offered a new take on the source material by adapting the language for a Victorian British audience (Viggo Hjørnager Pedersen). Many of the stories were first published in New Monthly Magazine, but were compiled for this volume as a celebration of Danish literature. The text includes stories and poems by Hans Christian Andersen (“Morten Langè. A Christmas Story” - volume I, pp. 199-208, and “The Man from Paradise. A Comic Tale” - volume I, pp. 305-312); Carl Bernhard (“Cousin Carl,” “Aunt Francisca,” “Damon and Pythas,” and “The Bankrupt”); Bernard Severin Ingemann (“The Doomed House,” “The Secret Witness,” “All Souls’ Day,” “The Aged Rabbi. A Jewish Tale,” and “The Death Ship”); Carit Etlar (“Too Old,” “The Shipwrecked Mariner’s Treasure,” and “Twice Sacrificed”); H.P. Holst (“Lisette’s Castles in the Air”), Adam Oehlenschlager (“Death and His Victims”), and others.
Not in Sadleir or Wolff. Fine.