[MACDONALD, George (1824-1905)].
Exotics: A Translation of the Spiritual Songs of Novalis, the Hymn-book of Luther, and other Poems from the German and Italian. Published by Strahan & Co., Publishers, 34 Paternoster Row, London, 1876.
First edition, first impression. Author's presentation copy - inscribed by George MacDonald to Lady Caroline Charteris. Cloth-bound. Hardcover. Small octavo (180 x 110 x 28 mm). Pp. xv, 177, (15). English text. Bound in publishers original green cloth with gilt titles and decoration, bevelled boards edges. Brown coated endpapers. Half-title present. Seton of Edinburgh bookbinder ticket to inner corner of rear pastedown. Provenance: Armorial bookplate of author Frederick Sessions to front pastedown. Condition: VERY GOOD. Binding tight, secure and square, the spine ends and points slightly bumped. Interior largely clean. Scarce thus.
Notes: Rare first edition by Scottish author George MacDonald; perhaps best known for his children's book At the Back of the North Wind, and his adult fantasy Phantastes. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page: "Lady Caroline Charteris, with much love from George & Louisa MacDonald." Lady Caroline was born in January 1816 at Aberlady, East Lothian, daughter of Francis Charteris-Wemyss-Douglas, Earl of Wemyss and his countess wife, Margaret, whose home was the East Lothian family pile Gosford House, near Longniddry. One of nine children, she mingled in the highest society – there are records of her and sister Lady Jane having attended the Queen’s Drawing Room in May 1835 and meeting Queen Victoria. She shared her riches with the Bishop of London’s Mission Fund, giving a guinea a year to help aid missionary work in London, and provide soup and blankets for the poor of the parish of Vauxhall in 1886. When she died in 1891, Lady Jane donated £6500 to build and furnish the Lady Caroline Charteris Memorial Wing at the children’s hospital along with £12,083 to create The Lady Caroline Charteris Endowment Fund. MacDonald wrote a touching poem following her death - In Memorium: Lady Caroline Charteris. A rare and collectable item. Highly regarded by C.S. Lewis. See Shaberman's bibliography no. 8.
