first edition Hardcover
1820 · Kjobenhavn [Copenhagen]
by GRUNDTVIG, N.F.S. (Nikolaj Frederik Severin)
Kjobenhavn [Copenhagen]: Trykt hos Andreas Seidelin, 1820. Hardcover. Good. First edition in Danish. Translated by N.F.S. Grundtvig. Octavo. lxxiv, 325pp. Contemporary quarter leather gilt, marbled boards, marbled endpapers. Small early ink owner name on front fly leaf and autograph note in pencil on verso of front free endpaper. The spine and boards are rubbed, spine back has a tear from loss of one band, else very good overall with scattered foxing, mostly on the final three leaves. The important first Danish edition of Beowulf, being the first printing of the epic Anglo-Saxon poem in any modern language, preceded only by Thorkelin's 1815 Latin edition. The Grundtvig translation is both more accurate and more complete, with several noted corrections. A well-preserved copy in contemporary or perhaps original boards of a scarce edition.
(Inventory #: 541606)