FINGAL, AN ANCIENT EPIC POEM, In Six Books: Together with several other POEMS, composed by Ossian the Son of Fingal. Translated from the Gaelic Language by George MacPherson [with,] A CRITICAL DISSERTATION ON THE POEMS OF OSSIAN, THE SON OF FINGAL [with,] TEMORA, an Ancient Epic Poem, In Eight Books: Together with several other Poems, composed by OSSIAN, the Son of FINGAL {with,] CATHLIN of CLUTHA: A POEM; SUL-MALLA OF LUMON; CATH-LODA; OINA-MORUL; COLNA-DONA; A SPECIMEN OF THE ORIGINAL OF TEMORA

First Edition with the fine provenance of Baird of Nervbaith [Newbyth], on the bookplate with coat of arms depicting Gules a boar passant and on a canton ermine a sword in pale proper. Illustrated with engraved title-pages, two elaborately decorated with engraved pictorial scenes and printed in red and black. 4to, contemporary speckled calf, red lettering piece on spine, full gilt rules between raised bands. xvi, 270, [2]; [4], 75; [5], xxiv, [2], 247 pp. A very good copy in contemporary state, some cracking to the hinges, the cords strong and sound, the textblock crisp and clean, some normal wear to the binding but a handsome copy nevertheless.

Edizione: translated from the gaelic language by james macpherson. his research for this book of ancient gaelic poetry was financed by the edinburgh literti. after some lengthy challenges regarding their authenticity, the poems were eventually proven to be correct after macpherson's death.<br> oisean is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the scottish poet james macpherson, originally as fingal (1761) and temora (1763), and later combined under the title the poems of ossian. macpherson claimed to have collected word-of-mouth material in scottish gaelic, said to be from ancient sources, and that the work was his translation of that material. ossian is based on ois?n, son of fionn mac cumhaill (anglicised to finn mccool),a legendary bard in irish mythology.<br> the work was internationally popular, translated into all the literary languages of europe and was highly influential both in the development of the romantic movement and the gaelic revival. napoleon and diderot were prominent admirers, and voltaire was known to have written parodies of them. thomas jefferson thought ossian "the greatest poet that has ever existed", and planned to learn gaelic so as to read his poems in the original. they were proclaimed as a celtic equivalent of the classical writers such as homer. "the genuine remains of ossian . are in many respects of the same stamp as the iliad", was thoreau's opinion. many writers were influenced by the works, including walter scott, and painters and composers chose ossianic subjects. <br> the opera ossian, ou les bardes by jean-fran?ois le sueur (with the famous, multimedial scene of "ossian's dream") was a sell-out at the paris opera in 1804, and transformed the composer's career. the poems also exerted an influence on the burgeoning of romantic music, and franz schubert in particular composed lieder setting many of ossian's poems. in 1829 felix mendelssohn was inspired to visit the hebrides and composed the hebrides overture, also known as fingal's cave. his friend niels gade devoted his first published work, the concert overture efterklange af ossian ("echoes of ossian") written in 1840, to the same subject. <br> macpherson's fame was crowned by his burial among the literary giants in westminster abbey.