Songs & Tales Books

An English Medieval and Renaissance Song Book - $18.00
Noah Greenberg. 47 vocal works from the 12th to the 17th centuries, including songs by Henry IV and Henry VIII as well as Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Thomas Ravenscroft, Thomas Morley, John Dowland, and Thomas Weelkes. 224pp. Pb.

Ancient Irish Airs and Dances: 201 Classic Tunes Arranged for the Piano - $24.00
George Petrie. From the hopeful anticipation of "Mary, do you fancy me?" to the bitterness of "Hag, you've killed me," this extraordinary compilation of Irish melodies runs the emotional gamut, with melancholy airs and sprightly reels aplenty. Its source material, The Petrie Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland, ranks among the most important 19th-century collections of traditional Irish music, with its song texts in both Irish and English, plus George Petrie's detailed notes about the music's origins. Out of print for many years, the Petrie Collection became an extremely rare and much sought-after collector's item; this new edition will bring the cherished old songs into the repertoire of any student or performer of traditional Irish music. Unabridged republication of the edition originally published by Pigott & Co., Dublin, 1877. 144pp. Pb.

Big Book of Dragons, Monsters and Other Mythical Creatures - $30.00
Ernst & Johanna Lehner. Intriguing pictorial archive of werewolves, serpents, mermaids, and other fabulous creatures, accompanied by an engrossing text with tales from around the world. Dramatic images of the sphinx, centaur, and the plumed serpent-bird of the Aztecs, as well as pictures of the whale, octopus, armadillo, and other real animals once associated with supernatural powers. Invaluable source of royalty-free art. 317 illustrations. 192pp. Pb.

Eight Mummers' Plays - $39.00
Alex Helm. Written in 1971, this booklet describes the origins of the Mummers Play, and some of the variations seen across England and the continent; the traditional costumes and plots, and timing and purpose of the performances. Rarely seen since the beginning of the 20th century, these plays are a dying tradition which deserves to be saved before all memory of them are gone. 72pp. Pb.

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol 1 - $39.00
Francis James Child. Published between 1882 and 1898, this definitive collection compiles all the extant ballads with all known variants and features Child's commentary for each work. Volume 1 includes Parts I and II of the original set — ballads 1-53: "Edward," "Lord Randal," "Tam Lin," "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight," more. Unabridged republication of the works originally published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, between 1882 and 1898. 544pp. Pb.

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol 2 - $39.00
Francis James Child. Published between 1882 and 1898, this definitive collection compiles all the extant ballads with all known variants and features Child's commentary for each work. Volume II includes Parts III & IV of the original set — ballads 54–113: "Sir Patrick Spens," "Johnie Scot," "Child Maurice," "Fair Margaret and Sweet William," more. Unabridged republication of the works originally published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, between 1882 and 1898. 544pp. Pb.

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol 3 - $39.00
Francis James Child. Published between 1882 and 1898, this definitive collection compiles all the extant ballads with all known variants and features Child's commentary for each work. Volume III includes Parts V and VI of the original set — ballads 114–188: "Mary Hamilton," "Flodden Field," "Sir Andrew Barton," and more than 30 ballads about Robin Hood. Unabridged republication of the works originally published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, between 1882 and 1898. 544pp. Pb.

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol 4 - $39.00
Francis James Child. Published between 1882 and 1898, this definitive collection compiles all the extant ballads with all known variants and features Child's commentary for each work. Volume IV includes Parts VII and VIII of the original set — ballads 189-265: including "Rob Roy," "Sir James the Rose," "Geordie," "The Gypsy Laddie," "The New-Slain Knight," more. Unabridged republication of the works originally published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, between 1882 and 1898. 544pp. Pb.

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol 5 - $39.00
Francis James Child. Published between 1882 and 1898, this definitive collection compiles all the extant ballads with all known variants and features Child's commentary for each work. Volume 5 includes Parts IX and X of the original set — ballads 266-305 — plus a 3000-item bibliography, indexes, glossary, musical selections and an essay by Walter Morris Hart. Unabridged republication of the works originally published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, between 1882 and 1898. 640pp. Pb.

English Keyboard Music Before the Nineteenth Century - $19.00
John Caldwell. English keyboard art from Robertsbridge Codex (c. 1325) to John Field. Illuminating coverage of organ, harpsichord, pianoforte, other instruments; works of Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons, Tomkins, many others. 352pp. Pb.

Everyman and Other Miracle & Morality Plays - $5.00
Anonymous. Most durable of medieval morality plays, in which the central character, summoned by death, must face final judgment on the strength of his good deeds. Reprinted here along with four other medieval classics: The Second Shepherd's Play, Abraham and Isaac, Noah's Flood and Hickscorner. All from standard texts. 96pp. Pb.

John Dowland's Lute Songs: 1st & 2nd Books - $24.00
Transcribed for Voice and Guitar by David Nadal. The preeminent lute virtuoso and composer of the early 17th century, John Dowland wrote numerous songs, both gay and melancholy, that dazzled the courts of England and Europe. This rare compilation features 43 of these splendid works in transcriptions for voice and guitar, plus two dances for solo guitar. Original lute tablature and complete song texts included. 128pp. Pb.

John Dowland's Lute Songs: 3rd & 4th Books - $24.00
Transcribed for voice and guitar and edited by David Nadal. Unsurpassed in his day as a lute virtuoso, John Dowland (1563–1626) today continues to delight singers, musicians, and music lovers alike. This collection of 45 songs includes all the works in Dowland's original third and fourth books of lute songs, the composer's contributions to his son's anthology of 1610, and a dance for solo guitar — all in an affordable, handsomely engraved edition that is both practical and scholarly. 144pp. Pb.

The Mabinogion - $7.00
Lady Charlotte E Guest (translator). A collection of 12 medieval Welsh stories considered a masterpiece of European literature. Includes Kilhwch and Olwen, one of the earliest Arthurian tales in Welsh; The Dream of Rhonabwy; 3 Arthurian romances: The Lady of the Fountain, Peredur the Son of Evrawc and Geraint the Son of Erbin, and more. 192pp. Pb.

The Mediaeval Stage - $36.00
E K Chambers. Comprehensive, groundbreaking work encompasses vast amount of material — from the demise of ancient Roman spectacles (c. 400 AD) to a new class of professional players by the 16th-century. Excellent accounts of wandering minstrels, mimes, mummers, miracle and morality plays, puppet shows, dramatic pageants, liturgical plays and much more. An indispensable reference for historians, students of English theater and anyone interested in medieval life. 960pp. Pb.

Medieval & Renaissance Dances for Recorder, Dancers and Hand Drums - $39.00
Isabel McNeill Carley. Processionals, Carols, Farandoles, Branles, and Pavanes. These lively period pieces will enhance school programs, complement language arts or European history units, and provide music for Renaissance Arts Fairs or Madrigal Dinners. The pieces are set for soprano recorders with optional tenor parts, hand drums, triangles or finger cymbals. Dances are easy to learn line, circle, and partner dances with clear instructions and diagrams. Pieces can be performed without dancers too. There are 4 pages of exercises and “tunes” to help develop the two-tone hand drum technique used in the arrangements. Tunes are from England, France, Hungary, Germany, and Spain. The four carols have Latin, Middle English, and modern English lyrics. A student book containing all recorder parts in large print is included. 48pp. Pb.

Medieval Lays & Legends of Marie de France - $13.00
An artful storyteller whose tales continue to enthrall modern readers, the twelfth-century poet known as Marie de France transformed folklore and legends into a distinctive variety of romance. Knights, fairies, princes in disguise, and werewolves populate her captivating variations on Arthurian myths and other stories of magic and mystery. Many of her tales are rooted in Celtic and Breton traditions; seven centuries later, her rhythmic and colored language retains its charm and offers insights into medieval customs and philosophy. In addition, this volume features two famous medieval romances, "A Story of Beyond the Sea" and "The Chatelaine of Vergi." 240pp. Pb.

Njal's Saga: or The Story of Burnt Njal - $18.00
George Webbe Dasent (translator). An authoritative and authentic edition of the great Norse Medieval epic. This thirteenth-century saga is perhaps the capstone of Icelandic literary achievement. Recounting a long and costly blood feud, these stories are a document on Viking civic and legal institutions, a cogent exposition on Icelandic religious practices, and of course, stirring tales of battle and conquest. 400pp. Pb.

One Hundred English Folk Songs - $29.00
Cecil J Sharp. Border ballads, folksongs, collected from all over Great Britain. "Lord Bateman," "Henry Martin," "The Green Wedding," many others. Piano. 235pp. Pb.

Petrie's Complete Irish Music: 1582 Traditional Melodies - $45.00
George Petrie. Edward Bunting fell into his destiny when, at the age of 19, he was commissioned to write down the tunes performed at a gathering of traditional harp players in Belfast in July 1792. This innocent beginning signaled the start of a 100-year process of enormous importance: the preservation of a country's music, which otherwise might be lost forever. In time, Bunting passed the torch to apprentice George Petrie who, in turn, became instrumental in founding the Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland, which published Petrie's first collection in 1855. Finally, it was Petrie's daughter who entrusted the much-honored Sir Charles Stanford with three bound volumes of her father's work, leading to the ultimate compilation, published in 1905, of 1,582 traditional melodies--the musical wealth of a nation. Unabridged Dover republication, in one volume, of The Complete Collection of Irish Music as Noted by George Petrie from the Original Manuscripts--the three-volume set originally completed by the Irish Literary Society of London between 1902 and 1905. 448pp. Pb.

The Werewolf in Lore and Legend - $19.00
Montague Summers. The first definitive work on werewolfery, this book was written by a venerable author of occult studies. Unsurpassed in its sheer scope and depth, it employs a theological and philosophical approach, incorporating an extensive range of historical documentation and folklore. Summers examines the supernatural practice of shapeshifting, notes the finer distinctions between werewolfery and lycanthropy, and explores the differences of opinion on exactly how ordinary humans are transformed into creatures of "unbridled cruelty, bestial ferocity, and ravening hunger." His Gothic style, rich in fascinating examples and anecdotes, offers compelling fare for lovers of esoteric lore. Unabridged republication of the classic 1933 edition. 336pp. Pb.

Wine, Women and Song - $14.00
John Addington Symonds. Here are some 60 songs - love songs, drinking songs, hymns to spring, and more - sung by the wandering students of the Middle Ages. Selected by translator John Addington Symonds from a 13th-century manuscript known as the Carmina Burana, the verses include "Welcome to Spring," "The Lover and the Nightingale," "Love Among the Maidens," "Wine and Venus," "Death Takes All," and many others. They appear here with a perceptive introductory essay by Symonds and brief accounts of the extant information on the authors of the verses. 6 b/w illus. 192pp. Pb.

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Modern Historical Fiction

Murder at The War: a Modern Day Mystery with a Medieval Setting - $20.00
Mary Monica Pulver. What happens when someone dies at an SCA event? He or she gets taken to Resurrection Point, and then rejoins the fight. But this time, the death is real...