Nisbet, Hume. The Matador and Other Recitative Pieces.

London: Hutchinson, 1893.
First edition. 8vo. Publisher’s black cloth, a trifle rubbed abd stained, titled and decorated in gilt to spine and front board, sunned to spine. Edges untrimmed, and, largely uncut, some soiling to the heads of some of the pages, with light traces of waterstaining, a rather beautifully produced book with engraved frontispiece and vignette title page. It’s a little grubby in places, but a very good copy nevertheless. A collection of verses, usually rather dramatic (the whole book begins with an authorial plea to the goddess Kali, which rather sets the tone), dealing with pirates, ghostly apparitions and affairs of the heart, intended for the enjoyment of late Victorians loudly and enthusiastically reciting them in their parlours on stormy nights. The illustrations are by Nisbet himself, not only was he prolific he was also talented, and like most of his work the whole thing is permeated by that weird restlessness he never seemed to get rid of. Interesting man, scarce book.