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Open these books and the first surprise is color: vivid red, blue, cream, and gold marbling across the boards, endpapers, and page edges. Then come the gilt decorated leather spines, the Victorian illustrations, and a remarkable literary connection. Both volumes bear a pictorial bookplate named “Booth Tarkington.”
This is a handsome, matching two volume New York edition of The Ingoldsby Legends; or, Mirth and Marvels, published by W. J. Widdleton and illustrated by George Cruikshank and John Leech. The title pages say it was reprinted from the tenth English edition. They show no publication year; comparable Widdleton editions appeared in the 1860s, so I am dating this set circa 1860s, rather than assigning it an unverified exact year.
The Booth Tarkington connection
Inside each front cover is the same striking pictorial plate: a photograph of a room with diamond pane windows and a chair, captioned “Booth Tarkington.” Tarkington was the American author of Penrod, The Magnificent Ambersons, and Alice Adams. The latter two novels won Pulitzer Prizes in 1919 and 1922. His name in both volumes makes this an especially compelling set for a collector of American literary history. The Pulitzer Prizes
The plates suggest an association with Tarkington’s library. They are ownership plates, not autographs, and I have no separate chain of custody or authentication establishing when they were placed in the books. That distinction matters: the bookplates themselves are the evidence offered, and close photographs of both are included. Historic New England also documents Tarkington’s house and writing room in Kennebunkport, Maine—a particularly evocative connection for a set now offered from Maine.
A world of ghosts, gallows humor, and improbable heroes
“Thomas Ingoldsby” was the pen name of Richard Harris Barham, an English clergyman with a gift for turning folklore into exuberant comic storytelling. These legends range through haunted houses, medieval curses, smugglers, devils, unruly saints, and encounters with the supernatural. Barham could make a ghost story eerie one moment and gleefully ridiculous the next. The stories and poems first appeared in nineteenth century periodicals before being gathered into the immensely popular Ingoldsby Legends.
Among the memorable pieces are “The Spectre of Tappington,” “The Hand of Glory,” “The Leech of Folkestone,” “The Jackdaw of Rheims,” and “The Smuggler’s Leap.” The Cruikshank and Leech illustrations give the tales their own visual mischief. This is a set made to be opened and explored, as well as displayed.
The books themselves
- Two matching volumes, I and II
- New York: W. J. Widdleton, circa 1860s
- Half leather bindings with beautifully patterned marbled boards
- Ornately gilt tooled spines with contrasting volume labels
- Marbled endpapers and richly patterned page edges
- Illustrated with work by George Cruikshank and John Leech
- Booth Tarkington pictorial bookplate in each volume
Condition: An exceptionally attractive, well matched pair for its age. The gilt spines remain handsome and readable; the marbling is vivid and wonderfully varied. There is expected rubbing and handling wear to the leather, board edges, and corners, along with ordinary age toning and occasional marks to the pages. The photographed openings appear sound. Please examine the photographs closely for the exact condition and contents; I have not performed a page by page collation.
WHERE FOLKLORE MEETS THE SUPERNATURAL
Turn these pages and the respectable Victorian world begins to slip. A haunted house has a story to tell. A severed hand carries a dreadful power. Smugglers haunt the coast, devils turn up where they are least wanted, and a stolen ring sends a jackdaw into ecclesiastical trouble. Barham draws on old legends, ghost stories, saints, curses, and superstitions—then tells them with a wicked sense of humor.
That is the peculiar magic of The Ingoldsby Legends. You can settle in for an illustrated nineteenth century tale and never be quite sure whether the next page will make you shiver or laugh. With their richly marbled bindings and BOOTH TARKINGTON BOOKPLATES, these volumes feel like books with stories of their own—waiting on a shelf until someone is curious enough to open them after dark.
