Red Cap Tales (1904, first edition)

S R Crockett's tales from Walter Scott in a decorative cloth binding

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition. Decorative cloth binding. 21 × 15cm, 413pp, 2pp ads.

Full title: Red Cap Tales, Stolen from the Treasure Chest of the Wizard of the North

Crockett's tales "stolen" from Walter Scott (the Wizard) to make his works more readable to young Edwardian readers. Crockett frames the book using a narrative device involving four children (Sweetheart, Hugh, Toffy, and Sir Toady Lion) who find Scott's original Waverley Novels dense or difficult to digest. To win them over, the narrator retells the core adventures, high-stakes plots, and romantic episodes of Scott's works in simplified, lively prose, stripping away the lengthy historical digressions and dense dialect. The tales are taken from Waverley, Guy Mannering, Rob Roy, and Tales from The Antiquary.

Condition

Very good condition for age, with a rather spooky Red Cap emerging from a chest to the upper board.