Book Description

Edward DUKE. The Druidical Temples in the County of Wilts. London: John Russell Smith, MDCCCXLVI [1846]. (190 x 110 mm) p. viii, 203, [2], 28 + three foldouts. Interior near fine, showing charming evidence of the pages having been cut. Some slight separation between  some gatherings. Yellow fly leaves and pastedown. Bookplate of Ernest Shackleton on front pastedown with his initials handwritten behind the bookplate. Bound in brown cloth with ornamental stamping. Gilt title on side with 5 s price. Some bubbling to cloth but not significant. Overall VERY GOOD. The second fly leaf contains an inscription from Reverend Edward Duke: To Johnathan Rashleigh, Esq. with the Author's Kind Regards, March 24, 1846 The book is the complicated synthesis of the 19th century’s attempt to revisit a pre-Christian past through the lens of Christianity and science, with the aid of the heavily biased archeology of the time. Reverend Edward Duke (1779-1852) remarks on the origins of Druidism, archeological sites in Wiltshire, paying significant attention to Avebury and Stonehenge. In the same year that this book was published, and that Duke inscribed it to the Cornish noble, Jonathan Rashleigh, Esq., Duke also proposed that ancient sacred sites may have been constructed with significant alignment-- an idea that would later be known as ley lines. The bookplate features a well-known name: that of E. H. Shackleton. While it is tempting to consider a connection to the Antartic explorer, this is not his bookplate.
Author Edward DUKE.
Date MDCCCXLVI [1846].
Publisher London: John Russell Smith

Price: £110.00

Offered by Mobilis Books

Friends of the PBFA

For £10 get free entry to our fairs, updates from the PBFA and more.

Please email info@pbfa.org for more information

Join PBFA

Membership of the PBFA is open to anyone who has been trading in antiquarian and second-hand books for a minimum of two years subject to certain criteria.

Email info@pbfa.org to find out more, or complete the enquiry form.

complete the form