Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems. by AYTOUN, William Edmondstoune

Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1865.. 4to. (24 x 18 cm). pp.[x]+268. Contemporary crimson straight-grained morocco by John Ramage (his signature to flyleaf), sides ruled with richly gilt-decorated borders of inlaid blue morocco enclosing fleur-de-lis devices at corners, upper cover with central shield device of inlaid tan morocco emblazoned with lion rampant beneath gilt crown, spine with raised bands and gilt-decorated compartments, broad gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Wood-engraved illustrations and vignettes by Joseph Noel Paton and Waller H. Paton engraved by Adam, Dalziel, Thomas, Thompson, etc. throughout. An excellent copy in beautifully executed binding by Ramage, one of the leading London binders of the late 19th century. William Edmondstoune Aytoun(1813-1865) was a Scottish poet and professor of rhetoric at the University of Edinburgh, being a collector of Scottish ballads. This volume contains his lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and other miscellaneous poems including Blind Old Milton, The Old Camp and Hermotimus. It is dedicated to Archibald William Montgomerie "the patriotic and noble representative of an ancient Scottish race".