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Carmichael, Alexander [and] Matheson, Angus [editor, Volumes V and VI].
Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations with Illustrative Notes on Words, Rites, and Customs, Dying and Obsolete: Orally Corrected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Translated into English [6 volumes, complete].
Publisher: Olive & Boyd/ Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh;
Date of Publication: 1928
Stock Code: 11850
Volumes I and II SECOND EDITIONS dated 1928, others FIRST EDITIONS variously dated from 1940-1971. Large octavos, pp., xxxvi,335, [1]; xv, [1], 381, [3]; xxiv, 395, [3]; xlv,[3], 367, [1]; xxiv, 403, [1]; [8], 271, [1]. Frontispieces to volumes I, III and V; decorative half-titles to all volumes, and decorative head- and tail-pieces and initial letters to volumes 1 to V throughout. Publishers’ maroon cloth with gilt titles to spine; volumes I to IV top edge gilt and V & VI stained green; other edges uncut. Volumes V and VI only have printed cream dust-jackets, with vol. VI price-clipped. Carmichael’s magnum opus of Gaelic folklore and customs, mostly drawn from the Western Isles, which was originally published in two volumes and eventually expanded over a long period to six. The songs and verses are printed in parallel Gaelic and English text. The final two volumes were edited by Angus Matheson after Carmichael’s death, and the final volume includes a detailed glossary, indexes of people and places, a subject index and a list of motifs. Rare as a complete set. Volumes I and II moderately spine sunned; a few corners bruised over the entire set and lower board vol. V slightly rippled with a few small pale marks. Scattered light foxing, almost entirely to text-block edge and endpapers, otherwise contents clean with no annotation or inscriptions. Jackets lightly surface soiled and creased, with foxing at folds Vol V. Heavyweight so a contribution towards increased postage costs will be requested for overseas delivery. Overall a very good set of the scarce work. £500.00