“COMIC AND GROTESQUE TREATMENT OF MEDIEVAL LEGEND”

INGOLDSBY, Thomas. The Ingoldsby Legends. London: Richard Bentley, 1848. Three volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter red calf gilt, marbled boards, brown morocco spine labels. $650.

Fourth edition of the collected legends, with 20 full-page plates by George Cruikshank and John Leech, illustrated title pages, and numerous in-text illustrations.

"The Ingoldsby Legends were first published from 1837 in Bentley's Magazine and The New Monthly Magazine, and first collected in 1840. Their lively rhythms and inventive rhymes, their comic and grotesque treatment of medieval legend, and their quaint narratives made them immensely popular" (Drabble, 66). CBEL, III:226. Bookplates.

Very scattered light foxing, minor wear to edges of contemporary binding. A handsome set.