THE ROMANCE AND PROPHECIES OF THOMAS OF ERCELDOUNE

First edition. Contemporary half brown pebble grain morocco and marbled paper covered boards, with five raised bands and titles in gilt to the spine. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the extremities a little rubbed. The contents, with the bookplate of Scottish politician Sir Charles Bine Renshaw (1848-1918) on the front free endpaper and a few marks to the prelims and early pages of text, are otherwise clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. Several pages remain uncut. A scarce title.

The complete text of the medieval romance of Thomas of Erceldoune, drawn from five 15th and 16th century manuscripts. Edited and with an introduction and commentary by the influential lexicographer and editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, James A. H. Murray (1837-1915). Thomas de Erceldoune, often named Thomas the Rhymer, was a Scottish Laird who lived in the Scottish Borders in the 13th century and was famed for his prophecies. The medieval romance tells of Thomas' meeting with a fairy queen who takes him on a treacherous journey to Elfland and bestows the power of prophecy upon him when she return him to the human world. The same tale is told in the 18th century ballad 'Thomas Rhymer', Child Ballad 37, which is commonly believed to have been adapted from the romance. Murray's volume provides a comprehensive, holistically edited edition of all five manuscripts of the romance, along with appendices containing material relating to Thomas the Rhymer and medieval Scottish prophecies.