Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border: consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, collected in the southern counties of Scotland; with a few of modern date, founded upon local tradition.

Notes

The first editions of Sir Walter Scott's first published book. Considered an important record of Scottish ballads, the collection inspired some indignation at the time, including from Margaret Hogg, whom James Hogg quoted in his 'Domestic Manners and Private Life of Sir Walter Scott' of 1834 as declaring the ballads 'made for singing an' no for reading; but ye hae broken the charm now, an' they'll never be sung mair. An' the worst thing of a', they're nouther right spell'd nor right setten down.' The first two volumes were published in Kelso, and when a second edition was published in Edinburgh the following year, a third volume was added. This third volume is styled uniformly with its Edinburgh-printed companions and so is designated 'second edition' on its title-page but is actually the first appearance of that volume. The copy in this set has an unusual pagination, with the fly-title for its first part being bound before the contents leaf, a duplicate fly-title for the second part and the errata leaf both bound before page one, and a final advert leaf to rear not recorded by Todd and Bowden. This leaf advertises as being 'in the press' The Lay of The Last Minstrel and Sir Tristrem; the former of which was issued in January 1805 and the latter, initially intended for inclusion in the Minstrelsy, in May 1804. Todd and Bowden quote an 1832 letter from Scott referring to the 2nd edition as 'in the language of the trade, rather a heavy concern', taking a few years to sell through; the third edition was not until 1806.
This set, in full Scottish dress with tartan endpapers and edges, belonged to the solidly English lawyer and member of parliament Charles Milnes Gaskell (1842-1919).