The Castles of Montreuil and Barre; or, The Histories of the Marquis La Brun and the Baron La Marche, the Late Inhabitants and Proprietors of the Two Castles. A Gothic Story
London: Printed and sold by S. Fisher. . . 1801. 1801 chapbook printing of a work first separately printed in 1799 and initially published in the Lady’s Magazine (v.28-9, 1797-98), as “The Two Castles: a Romance” by E. F. The authorship of this work, and its predecessor in the Lady’s Magazine, De Courville Castle: A Romance, remains unknown and disputed. Textual scholar Edward Pritcher asserts they were written by professional author Anne Ker, whereas Monica Cristina Soare, in her Berkeley dissertation, suggests that E.F. was a sophisticated, but still amateur, female author largely imitating Radcliffe. This 1801 printing is by Fisher, who Dr. Franz Potter notes was largely insignificant except for his role in the development of gothic chapbooks, particularly, as with this printing, when Fisher teamed up with Hurst. Gothic Chapbooks, Bluebooks and Shilling Shockers (2021, pgs. 32-4).
12mo. [1]-48pp., frontis. This printing appears much scarcer than the 1799 printing, with 3 copies located on OCLC as of November 2021. See generally Garside Raven 1799:35, Summers pg. 269, and ESTC N14985 for the 1799 printing. Curiously, the frontis is dated 1803 and refers to page 4, however, the 1803 printing does not have a paginated page 4 and appears to actually refer to page 4 of the 1801 printing. Very good in modern red quarter-leather over red boards with some spotting and foxing throughout, errant ink mark, and small open tear not affecting text. Item #255
Price: $550.00