The Suicide's Grave: being the private memoirs & confessions of a justified sinner written by himself. With a detail of curious traditionary facts & other evidence by the editor. Photogravures by R. Easton Stuart
London: J. Shiells, MDCCCXCV [1895]. First Edition thus. Decorative Cloth. First Illustrated Edition and first complete edition (uncensored) under this title of this "macabre and highly original tale," reinstating Hogg's text from the virtually unobtainable issue of 1824. (Oxford English Literature) Crown 8vo (188 x 123mm): [6],266 pp, with tissue-guarded photogravure frontispiece of Dalcastle, five further photogravures after paintings by Scottish impressionist Robert Easton Stuart (1864-1940), and engraved facsimile. Publisher's sage green cloth, spine lettered in gilt and decoratively blocked in black, front cover lettered in dark green within border of bay leaves, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Spine darkened a degree or two, end papers faintly spotted, but an excellent example, tightly bound and clean throughout. Oxford Companion to English Literature online ("A powerful mixture of Gothic and psychological fiction, the book has come to be seen as Hogg's masterpiece. The French critic and novelist André Gide declared that he read ‘this astounding book . . . with a stupefaction and admiration that increased at every page’."). Fine-. Item #BB2640
A scarce and significant edition of this work of gothic metafictional crime writing, first published anonymously as The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, in 1824, then reissued, heavily bowdlerized, in 1837, in the posthumous collection, The confessions of a fanatic. The "nineteenth-century collected editions offer a bland and lifeless version of Hogg's writings. It was in this version that he was read by the Victorians, and unsurprisingly he came to be regarded as a minor figure, of no great importance or interest. However, the second half of the twentieth century saw a spectacular revival in Hogg's reputation as reliable texts of his writings increasingly became available." (ODNB). Hogg was born on a farm in the Ettrick Forest, and was forced by poverty to become a cowherd at the age of 7. He taught himself to read and write, and moved to Edinburgh in 1810, where he made his name with The Queen's Wake, becoming friends with Lord Byron, William Wordsworth, Robert Southey, John Murray, and other literary figures. He was later on the board of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, to which he frequently contributed. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).
Price: $724.00