The Originals
The first edition of The English and Scottish Popular Ballads was limited to 1000 copies and was printed at the Riverside Press, part of the Harvard University Press, between the years 1882 and 1898. The set of books used for imaging this digital edition (imprint 196 of 1000) comprised Andrew Carnegie’s personal set, preserved in near-mint condition and held at his estate at Skibo in the Scottish Highlands. Each volume contains Carnegie’s “Let There Be Light” bookplate on the inside front cover and his hand-written initials on the first verso. carnegie This set has been described as: “Ten parts (books) in five volumes large quarto (280 x 197 mm) format. There is an engraved portrait frontispiece of the editor, Francis James Child, in parts 1,3,5,7, and 9. The set was bound by Zaehnsdorf’s in contemporary polished tan calf, with a triple gilt ruled border on the covers, red and blue leather title labels and intricate gilt-tooled compartments on spines, e.g. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1882-1898.” Five other sets of the original cloth-bound edition and several copies of the 1965 Dover Publications paper-bound edition were used as references in the development and proofreading processes.All paper copies of The English and Scottish Popular Ballads used in the development of this digital edition were generously loaned to the project by private collectors in New York, Connecticut, and California.
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Founded in 2001, Heritage Muse Publishing began as an ePublishing company for the express purpose of building and offering a quality digital library of folk music and literature to public and private libraries, academic institutions, scholars, folklorists, performers, and hobbyists. At founder David M. Kleiman's death in 2014, the company was acquired by Sheridan Street Hosting LLC and began operating as Heritage Muse Publishing Publishing. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (digital edition) was the first in a series of linked and cross-indexed digital text and audio publications under the The Heritage Collector’s™ banner.
HERITAGE MUSE ADVISORY COUNCIL
- Stuart M. Frank, Ph.D.
- Sheldon I. Posen, Ph.D.
- Nancy Groce, Ph.D.
- Moira Smith, Ph.D.
- Rhoda E. Kleiman, MLS, Ph.D.
- Richard H. Swain, MLS
- Fiona McNeil, Ph.D.
- Robert L. Webb