Description

First edition of Stevenson’s first published book. One of 750 printed. David MacRitchie’s copy with his signature to the half title. In 1890, MacRitchie published The Testimony of Tradition  and Fians, Fairies and Picts 1893 in which he developed what became known as the “Pygmy-Pict theory”   regarding fairies to have been folk memories of the aboriginal Picts which explained fairy lore  as the handed-down memory of a real pygmy race that once lived across the British Isles. He identified the Picts evidentially as being of shorter stature. This theme may have influenced Stevenson who attributed some of his ideas as having come to him from fairy-muses in his sleep and in Heather Ale in Ballads in 1890 has the Picts as a smaller race.

Pictorial light blue cloth, decorated in black and gilt. Top of spine worn and bruised. Some light marking to covers and corners slightly worn.