An early celebration of Celtic culture
DAVIES, Edward. The Mythology and Rites of the British Druids, ascertained by National Documents; and compared with the General Traditions and Customs of Heathenism ... With an Appendix containing Ancient Poems and Extracts with some Remarks on Ancient British Coins. London: Printed for J. Booth' 1809.
8vo. Entirely uncut in the original publisher's plain boards, rebacked with linen, however retaining the original printed label; pp. xvi, 642, 6 (Index to Celtic Researches; printed slip bound in before title-page announcing this), fold-out numismatic plate at the end; wear to extremities, spine label with a little marginal loss, foxing at beginning and end as frequently the case; otherwise a good copy of a rare work in the original binding; contemporary armorial bookplate of William Middleton of Crowfield Hall in Suffolk, later bookplate of Shrubland Hall on opposite fly-leaf.
First edition. The author was a Welsh teacher, clergyman, antiquary and writer of plays, and one very rare novel, Elisa Powell, or, Trials of Sensibility (1795) and an attack on Macpherson 'not least for disparaging the Welsh bards' (ODNB). William Blake is known to have been follower of Edward Davies 'Celtic' theories.
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