TOM CRINGLE'S LOG. In Two Volumes by [Scott, Michael] - 1833

1833. Edinburgh: William Blackwood / London: T. Cadell, 1833. Original dark green cloth stamped in gilt on the spines.

First Edition of Michael Scott's first book (of only two). Born and raised near Glasgow, at age 17 (in 1806) Scott went to try his fortunes in Jamaica. After marrying the daughter of a Scottish merchant in 1818, he returned to Jamaica as a partner in his father-in-law's firm. Without revealing his identity as the author, he began contributing to Blackwood's Magazine (1829) instalments of the brilliant story of West Indian life that was later republished under the title of TOM CRINGLE'S LOG. The intermittent papers met with immediate success. Their stamp of authenticity, the author's keen observation, his zest and his humor, caught and held the popular imagination... Scott's second story, THE CRUISE OF THE MIDGE, also appeared serially in Blackwood's and without his name... Scott preserved his incognito so successfully that no one, not even Mr. Blackwood, knew his identity until after his [1835] death [K&H]. This set is bound in Carter's binding "A", plain dark green morocco-grain cloth with simple gilt stamping on the spine. There are two theories regarding the two bindings: (1) that "A" precedes the slightly fancier "B" (TOM was published, after all, just one year after the process of direct gilt-stamping became commercially available); or (2) that the "A" binding is on the Blackwood/Edinburgh copies, while the "B" binding is on the ones shipped to Cadell/London (where the process was a bit more advanced). In any event, this set is in very good-plus condition, with a little wrinkling and edge-wear on the delicate spines. One of J.K. Lilly's "Eighty-Nine Good Novels of the Sea." Sadleir 3040 (copy 1); Wolff 6228B (rebound); Carter MBV pp 34-37. Housed in an open-back cloth case.