1885 Roadside Songs of Tuscany

Description

First Edition, Illustrated, Leather Binding, Rebound

The first edition. Rebound in half morocco on marbled boards. With a frontispiece, and nineteen full-page plates. Collated complete. A collection of poems, ballads, and songs, from the nineteenth-century working class of Tuscany. Based on the work of the celebrated story-teller Beatrice Bernardi of Pian degli Ontani. Containing 'The Ballad of Santa Zita', 'The Dove', 'The Colonel's Leave', 'The Golden Girdle', 'Give Me Light, Lady', and more. Translated and illustrated by Francesca Alexander. Alexander was a translator, illustrator, and folklorist. Alexander met Ruskin in 1882, and he became a great fan of her works. Edited by John Ruskin. John Ruskin was an art critic in Victorian England, being an influential figure in the art world. He was also greatly admired by Leo Tolstoy, Marcel Proust, and William Morris.