Inscribed at The Cedars
Wager of Battle; A Tale of Saxon Slavery in Sherwood Forest.
New York: Published by Mason Brothers 23 Park Row, 1855.
Price: $750.00
About the item
First edition. x, [11]- 336 pp. 12mo. Inscribed at The Cedars. Original grey cloth stamped in blind, spine titled in gilt, chocolate endpapers. Very good (some rubbing to spine ends, tiny loss to top corner of front flyleaf). Inscribed by the author on the front flyleaf. Wright II 1174; Van Winkle p.53; BAL 8147.
Item #320689
Inscribed by the author on the front flyleaf:
“Richard E. ——, with the regards of his friend the author, Henry Wm Herbert, The Cedars”
"The Preface of the book is of interest because it contains a curious prediction of the Civil War." - Van Winkle.
A choice presentation from sportsman and author Henry William Herbert (1807-1858), whose works under the pen name Frank Forester established an American tradition of sporting and outdoor writing. “Of his several romances, Marmaduke Wyvil (1843) was foremost in popularity. The others were carefully written but prolix and unimaginative, more akin to historical recitals than romances … but his most profitable literary work was the translation of Eugène Sue and several of Alexandre Dumas's shorter novels. Buffeted by implacable and possibly dishonest creditors, Herbert relinquished his chosen 'image' of cavalier boots, spurs, and Scottish plaid shawl and preferred a semi-reclusive literary retreat at The Cedars on the Passaic River outside Newark, New Jersey” (ODNB).
