Books

Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag (F. Hegel and S�n). Copenhagen. First edition, first issue. Small 8vo. Publisher's turquoise cloth decorated in gilt and black. Slight wear to head and tail and edges of spine and corners. All page edges gilt. White coated endpapers. Leather presentation plate, lettered in gilt to Professor William Beattie, C.B.E. from the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland. Pages slightly browned, front free endpaper lightly creased, neat 19th century ownership signature to half-title otherwise a remarkably clean and fresh copy of a very scarce item. Professor William Beattie (1903-1986) was the Keeper of Printed Books in the National Library of Scotland 1931 1953; Librarian of the National Library of Scotland 1953 1970 and after this became the first Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Edinburgh.1972 1980. His portrait is in the Print Room of the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland. His scholarship embraced many aspects of Scandinavian life and literature and he was particularly interested in all fields that related to Scandinavian culture and the links to Scotland. he was the proud recipient of St Olav's Medal in 1977. [The St. Olav's Medal and the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch were instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 17 March 1939. They are awarded in recognition of "outstanding services rendered in connection with the spreading of information about Norway abroad and for strengthening the bonds between expatriate Norwegians and their home country"] It was appropriate that on his retirement as Head of The National Library of Scotland he received this stunning copy of such an important Scandinavian first edition.

A three-act play in prose by Henrik Ibsen, premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879. The play is significant for its critical attitude toward 19th-century marriage norms.