Jon Arnason [collected]; George E. J. Powell; Eirikur Magnusson [trans.] — Icelandic Legends

London, Richard Bentley , 1864. First edition. Leather. The very scarce first UK edition of this Icelandic folktale collection from Jon Arnason, adorned with engraved plates and vignettes. The first UK edition of the first series. Very scarce. Compiled by Jon Arnason, an author, librarian and museum director, affectionately named in this volume's preface as "The Grimm of Iceland". Bound in half crushed morocco, with cloth boards. Contents have been bound before the preface - the pagination reflects this. With a striking engraved title, fifteen plates and numerous in-text illustrations. Collated, complete. Credited as being the first collection of Icelandic folktales, this work was compiled by Arnason together with schoolmaster and acquaintance Magnus Grimsson, inspired by Grimm's Fairy Tales. It made its first appearance in 1852 (under Íslenzk Æfintýri) but attracted little notice. After Grimsson died in 1860, Jón Arnason finished the collection on his own and it was then published in two volumes in 1862 and 1864 in Leipzig with the help of German legal historian and scholar of Icelandic literature, Konrad Maurer. This edition also translated by Welsh antiquary and collector, George E. J. Powell. Bound in half crushed morocco, with cloth boards. Externally, with rubbing to the extremities, most notably to the spine and corners. Internally, front free endpapers loosening slightly and plate facing p. 38 detached but present. Pages are generally bright, with occasional spots and handling marks. Good . Ill.: Not Stated. Good .