The Book of Ballads [VINTAGE 1967 FIRST EDITION THUS]

Leach, MacEdward (editor)

Published by The Heritage Press, New York, 1967

About this Item

Fine unread condition green and black patterned boards, green cloth spine, gold spine lettering, and gold spine illustration contained in a fine condition matching color illustrated slipcase. Includes Introduction consisting of: The Nature of Folk Ballads; Ballad Subjects; Kinds of Ballads; Dates, Origins, and Authorship; Reading of Ballads; Meter and Musical Patterns; Ballad Style; How Ballads Were Socialized; and Glossary; Notes; Index of Titles; and Index of First Lines. Illustrated by Fritz Kredel with thirty-six woodcuts illuminated in two colors. Also includes the accompanying pamphlet, entitled The Heritage Club Sandglass, Number V;32, which is in fine condition. All pages are in fine unmarked condition and the spine/binding is exceedingly tight and square (see photographs). "The basic truths of real events are to be found in these stylized songs that have been sung for decades, or for centuries, and that recount a portion of European and American history as surely as do the printed texts we are so familiar with. Fortunately a body of them have been plucked from the air and put down in black and white. the best is doubtless the authentic collection we happily send you herewith: The Heritage Book of Ballads, containing sixty-nine of these fascinating songs from the past. A true ballad is a folksong of unknown authorship that tells a story in a special way. The stress of the story is on the crucial situation; it is told by letting the action unfold itself in event and speech. Ballads are always objective, impersonal, and unreflective; the language is direct, containing conventional epithets and set phrases. the oldest date back to the thirteenth century. there is a rich, colorful, exciting body of folk ballads that have retained their vitality even though they have been preserved only by oral transmission from generation to generation. These songs told of murder, of superstition, of romance, of ghosts, of shipwrecks, of wars; they told of local events that involved love, jealousy, pride, honor, adultery - and so on. Aren't those the things we hear about today? That we read about in the papers? Which is why the ballads of yesteryear have the complelling immediacy right now that they have always had. The Heritage Club Book of Ballads is a collection of the most representative, best-known, and most entertaining examples of this type of oral literature in our language, from "Edward" to "Frankie and Johnny." How have we managed to put down on paper words that have been sung all through the years? The answer is that they have been recorded by folklorists who realized that, though ballads are songs or performances, and not poetry, they must be saved in text." - excerpt from The Heritage Club Sandglass pamphlet. Seller Inventory # 007494

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Book of Ballads [VINTAGE 1967 FIRST ...

Publisher: The Heritage Press, New York

Publication Date: 1967

Binding: Hardcover

Illustrator: Kredel, Fritz (woodcuts); Salter, George (book design)

Condition: Fine

Edition: 1st Edition