OLD MORTALITY SIR WALTER SCOTT Fiction - British,History - British,Scotland

This is a two-volume copy of Old Mortality by the great Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott (1770-1832). It is the 6th of his Waverley novels which, for nearly a century, were the most-read novels in Europe. The Tale of Old Mortality was first published in 1816. It deals with the period of the Covenanters, featuring their victory at Loudoun Hill and their defeat at Bothwell Bridge, both in June 1679. A final section is set in 1689 at the time of the royalist defeat at Killiekrankie. These books are part of an incomplete set I have, which is also listed here. Between 1892 and 1894, the Boston publisher Estes and Lauriat published the collected Waverley novels. The introductions of each were written by the Scottish poet and critic Andrew Lang (1844-1912). In 48 volumes, they published a leather set, a marbled-cover set and a plain set. I have volumes of the plain set. By 'plain', I mean attractive navy blue boards with ivory title plates on the spine. The publisher has stated 'Large Paper'; the paper is thick and of best quality. There were 1000 copies of this set printed. This is set #679. That is stamped on each book in red. There is red type on the title page and on the tissue paper fronting each illustration. Each book has six black and white illustrations. The illustrations in these two books are covered with tissue paper. They are stated as original etchings by Victor Louis Focillon (French, 1849-1918), Frederick Huth, Alfred Hartley (English, 1855 - 1933), William Wright-Nooth (English b c 1858), Charles Bernard de Billy (French, b 1840), Pierre-Antoine Mongin (French, 1761 - 1827), Henry William Batley (English 1837-1907), David Young Cameron (Scottish 1865-1945), John Andrew & George Andrew (Boston). Volume 1 has a fold-out, which I imagine is a map. No one has ever opened it and I've left it alone. In both cases, the title panels are faded and scratched. Volume II has some spots on the spine and covers. Volume II's covers are perfect. Both books have fully-intact gold trim; only the tops of the pages were originally trimmed. In the case of both books, the interiors are perfect. No foxing. It appears that no one ever read them.