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Long introduction by the translator on Gaelic poetry and on Macpherson,
Le Tourneur thought like everyone else that they were authentic and original poems, although he expressed his astonishment from the beginning of his introduction that such writings could have survived.
It would be hard to believe today the immense enthusiasm of the whole of Europe for the poems of Ossian, allegedly from the third century. The world of the arts poured into a complete passion for the Celts and the poetry of Ossian (we know that Napoleon was particularly fond of them), celebrating the author as the Homer of the north, and each nation was soon led to seek its roots. national literature.
Ossianism was thus the forerunner of national romanticisms, and the artistic lever to gain lands foreign to neo-classicism (Ingres and Le rêve d'Ossian).
Macpherson is the author of this literary deception, but we know today that if certain passages are entirely his, others strictly follow old Irish poems found and owned by the author (these poems were found at his home after his death).
Research carried out in the 20th century confirmed the veracity of the sources from which Macpherson had drawn.
296 and 302p
Very beautiful bindings (small gaps in the crowns and corners)
Cool interior
Some engravings
Very nice copy 67421897
