Description
Autograph manuscript of "Fighting the Flames. A tale of the London Fire-Brigade". 8vo, pp. [2], 338, unbound, preserved in a fitted cloth case, 1867, author's heavily corrected manuscript marked up for publication, signed and dated 9 September 1867 by Ballantyne on the last leaf, on the verso of the last leaf is the address of Constable, the Edinburgh printers, some dust-staining to outer leaves, top edge of case split
Footnote
Note: "Fighting the Flames. A Tale of the London Fire Brigade" was published by James Nisbet in 1867. The dramatic possibilities of a tale about the London fire brigade, recently modernised with steam pumps, was an attractive one for Ballantyne. He undertook a great deal of research on the subject before starting writing, including a protracted correspondence with Captain Shaw, chief officer of the Metropolitan fire brigade and Mr Sampson Low, Secretary of the London Fire-Escape Society. In London he took the opportunity to participate in a practice run of the fire appliance, by his later account a frightening experience with the appliance racing through the city streets with Ballantyne hanging on at the back. According to Quayle, Ballantyne finished the work on the 9th September 1867 and sent the proofs to Captain Shaw for revision. It was published in December of the same year. By coincidence Ballantyne himself was involved in a real rescue in Edinburgh that year where he entered a burning house in the Canongate to try and save a child, earning himself a medal in the process. The resulting publicity did the sales of his book no harm.