1886 – Border Lances by E. L. Seeley / First Edition / Illustrated Antiquarian Romance
 
A beautifully bound and richly illustrated antiquarian historical romance, Border Lances: A Romance of the Northern Marches in the Reign of Edward the Third is a rare 1886 first edition by E. L. Seeley (Emma Louise Seeley), the author of Belt and Spur.
 
This striking volume is lavishly illustrated with 12 colour lithograph plates, including a colour frontispiece protected by a tissue sheet, along with numerous black-and-white illustrations interspersed throughout the text. The colour lithographs are signed “Hanhart lith”, attributed to M. & N. Hanhart, a notable London lithographic publishing house. Yellow endpapers and pastedowns complement the interior.
 
The volume is bound in its original decorative blue pictorial cloth, over boards, with gilt and red decoration and stylised gilt titles on both the spine and front board. The binding is intact and robust for a book that is now 138 years old. Wear includes some bumping and small rips to the corners, small tears at the spine ends, discolouration to the spine, light marks, and a slight lean to the spine. Please consult the photographs for visual reference.
 
Published by Seeley and Co., 46–48 Essex Street, London, and printed by Woodfall & Kinder, Milford Lane, this book was part of a short but distinctive literary output by Emma Louise Seeley, of whom little is recorded beyond a few historical works.
 
In the preface, Seeley writes:
 
“In writing this tale I have followed most closely the Chronicle of Lanercost, but I have made use of several other works, such as the Scala Chronicon, Wyntoun's Poems, &c. As for the marriage of Sir John de Copeland to the widow of Sir William de Coucy, it has been accepted as authentic by so many writers that I thought myself at liberty to make it the foundation of my story.
The grotesques interspersed through the pages are copied from drawings in Bestiaries and other MSS. of the fourteenth century.”
 
Condition Report
Boards and Spine: Original decorative cloth in blue with red and gilt details. Structurally sound with small tears, marks, light dents, and spine lean consistent with age.
Interior:
Pages are lightly tanned with some light foxing on preliminary leaves and light stains on pastedowns and endpapers.
The front free endpaper has remnants from a removed pasted (probably ex-libris) plate.
Very minor marks, small tears, and creases appear on a few pages but do not obscure text or images.
A small rip at the inner edge of page 137 and the following leaf; a small hole in the front free endpaper; a few pages with rough bottom edges, likely due to the original uncut construction.
Minimal pencil notes adjacent to page 1 and at the end of the publisher’s catalogue.
No pen marks or missing pages.
Tight binding overall with a few light gutter cracks, notably at the front pastedown; front flyleaf is partially loose at the top but still attached.
 
Pages: All 272 pages of the main text are present, plus an additional 20-page publisher's catalogue.
 
Please see photographs for a full visual assessment, as they form part of this description.
 
Physical Details
Dimensions: approx. 19.5 cm x 14 cm x 3.4 cm
Weight: approx. 617 grams
 
A Scarce and Beautiful Example
A rare opportunity to own a first edition of this richly detailed Victorian historical romance, beautifully illustrated and historically grounded in primary medieval chronicles.