A Historical Tour Through Pembrokeshire.
London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Co, White & Cochrane, W. Miller, Cadell & Davies, Vernor, Hood & Sharpe, E. Jeffery, J. Booth, J. Mawman, and J. Johnson & Co., 1811. Frontispiece, engraved title page, 30 tipped in black and white engravings, fold-out map. First edition, second issue. Title page imprint altered and dated 1811. Lacking "List of Subscribers," yet retaining Dedication. Contemporary rebind by Sotheran & co. in three-quarters dark maroon morocco over marbled boards. Matching marbled endpapers. Gilt spine title. Teg. Quarto. [iv], 587, 75 Appendix, [10] Index, Errata. 11" x 9.5" Faint shelf wear to extremities, some rubbing to marbled boards. Moderate foxing throughout text, offsetting from illustrations. Contemporary inked name on title page, marginalia page 468. Loss to edges on pages 401 and 491, with no loss to text. A tight, handsome copy in very good condition. Item #225852
A lively history of a southwest county of Wales by native poet and topographer Richard Fenton. As the map in the front of the book illustrates, Fenton traveled through Pembrokeshire, sharing the history and landscape with his readers. Legend mixes with fact in this history, however; in one section, Fenton writes of a basilisk residing in the woods behind the Bolston mansion, "a creature that is fabled to kill if it first sees, or to die instantly if first seen, and that one of the ancient possessors of this place, by a stratagem of inclosing himself in a cask, had himself rolled into the thick of the wood, where, through a hole in the cask, he first espyed the monster, causing it to perish..." (233). More than the typical travel guide, this beautifully bound book explores the history and lore of a quaint Welsh county that is not without its own little excitements.
Price: $200.00