Lot 101
[Barbour, John (c.1330-1395)]
The Acts and Life of the most Victorious Conquerour Robert Bruce King of Scotland
£404
Auction: 19 September 2024 from 10:00 BST
Description
wherein also are contained the Martiall deeds of the valiant Princes, Edward Bruce, Sir James Dowglas, Earle Thomas Rande, Walter, Stewart, and sundry others. Edinburgh: Andrew Anderson, 1670. 12mo (15.4 x 7cm), 348 pp., early-19th-century red morocco gilt by J. Mackenzie, ‘bookbinder to the king’, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, type-ornament border to title-page, main text printed in black letter with headlines in roman, title-page laid down, small marginal tear to B11 just touching one letter verso, a few headlines (e.g. E10-11, F12) just shaved [Wing B708]
Provenance
The Library of a Scottish Gentleman
Footnote
Black letter edition, the fifth overall, of ‘the first major work of Scottish literature’ (Ency. Brit.); all early editions are extremely rare at auction, indicating a high attrition rate in the hands of eager Scottish readers. The first edition, extant in the form of a single imperfect copy at the National Library of Scotland, is dated to 1571 on the grounds of a laid-in title-page printed by the Scottish antiquarian David Laing in the 19th century. There were subsequent editions in 1616, 1620 and 1648.
![[Barbour, John (c.1330-1395)]](https://media.app.artisio.co/media/104cbde6-0d38-43cb-9e0f-bb721ef57bcf/inventory/1129b081-16bf-4819-bbd5-32df45c9bad0/6addbd11-5e37-4cd3-a6ea-3bddefafb622/0001_XlCiLK_original.jpeg)