HOGG, James.
The Pilgrims of the Sun; a Poem …
London, Printed for John Murray … and William Blackwood … Edinburgh, 1815.
8vo, pp. [10], 148, [2, advertisement], with a half-title; a fine copy, uncut in later half calf and marbled boards, rebacked, covers bowed; contemporary ownership inscription to title-page of Charles Moray, later armorial bookplate of the House of Abercairny (the Moray family seat).
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The Pilgrims of the Sun; a Poem …
First edition, first issue, of a long poem dedicated to Byron ‘Not for thy crabbed state-creed, wayward wight, / Thy noble lineage, nor they virtues high’, but for ‘thy bold and native energy’. The titular poem is the narrative of a young local woman Mary Lee, and her journey to a heavenly world, escorted by the spirit Cela, then back to earth. At the end is a shorter piece, ‘Superstition’ – both had been intended for a projected volume entitled ‘Midsummer Night’s Dreams’.
The first issue, published in Edinburgh in December 1814, has Murray named first in the imprint. But after reading the poem in full Murray was disappointed, and issued it in London was a cancel title demoting himself from publisher to distributor only.
