THE DEATH OF BALDER.
From the Danish of Johannes Ewald (1773). Translated by George Borrow. Pp. [viii]+78(last blank); cr. 8vo; purple cloth, printed paper title label on spine, edges of boards lightly rubbed and fore-corners faintly bruised, the spine and top edge of upper board faded, title label slightly browned and a trifle chipped at edges; uncut and unopened; endpapers offset (heavier on free endpapers), outer leaves and edges lightly foxed; Jarrold & Sons, London, 1889[1892]. First edition, limited to 250 copies. Wise (Borrow) 17; Collie & Fraser B.8a, binding variant with Ewald's Death of Balder on the slightly larger title label; Todd 7i. *Todd notes the existence of two variant title pages of undetermined order, one dated 1889 (as in the present copy) and one undated. The 1889 date has since been shown to be false, and in 1936 Roland Baugham identified the type used as one peculiar to Richard Clay & Sons, the printing firm used by Wise. As George Borrow was an author of interest to Wise, suspicion arose that The Death of Balder might have been one of Wise's forgeries. However Collie & Fraser, in their bibliography of Borrow state that 'such caution is no longer necessary' [p. 123]; and Carter & Pollard, in Working Paper No. 3, The Mystery of 'The Death of Balder' conclude that Wise 'had nothing to do with the book' [p. 17]. Item #157030
Price: $350.00