[Rarebooks] fs: Ossian's Fingal, 1814 "Translation"...

Thu Apr 8 09:31:51 EDT 2004

>From our Just Catalogued pages-

Harvey, George. OSSIAN'S FINGAL; AN ANCIENT HEROIC POEM, IN SIX BOOKS,
RENDERED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY GEORGE HARVEY. London; A.J. Valpy: 1814.

An interesting "translation" of James Macpherson's "ancient" poem 'Fingal'
into modern English. James Macpherson's discovery and publication of the
epic, heroic verse by the ancient Scottish poet Ossian excited literary
and artistic imaginations across Europe; it's too bad the poems themselves
were a clever hoax...

It had all started when playwright John Home ran into Macpherson, a
struggling journeyman writer, and mentioned that he was interested in
collecting ancient Scottish verse. Macpherson, who both wrote and read
Gaelic, claimed to have some, and was then forced to come up with
examples. He produced "The Death of Oscur", a work based on two actual
ancient ballads, but essentially an original Macpherson work, and claimed
it to have been written by a blind 3rd century bard named Ossian. The poem
proved popular, and in 1760 Macpherson published a pamphlet of further
"finds" titled "Fragments of Ancient Poetry" to great acclaim. Friends and
patrons then raised a substantial subscription to send Macpherson on an
extended journey to the Scottish Highlands to find more poetry. Almost
incidentally he did actually manage to do that, but the most striking
result of the trip was "Fingal", an epic poem that took England and Europe
by storm. Later scholars have concluded that Macpherson melded parts and
themes from some fourteen or fifteen authentic ancient ballads into
"Fingal", but what resulted was purely original Macpherson. And almost
everyone loved it and believed, or wanted to believe, that it was genuine.
Buoyed by the acclaim and knowing a good thing when he saw it, in 1763
Macpherson followed "Fingal" with "Temora".

Praise for the ancient poet Ossian and his gallant translator rolled
across English and European literary circles like a tidal wave- Smollet
ranked Ossian with Homer and Virgil, and Sheridan declared that he
surpassed them. Burns and Coleridge were in awe; Thomas Jefferson wrote to
Macpherson thanking him for his work, and a young Goethe enthusiastically
translated Ossian into German (in all, Ossian was translated into almost a
dozen European tongues). The acclaim did not stop with the literary set-
Schubert and Brahms composed music based on Ossian. That is not to say
that everyone was completely convinced the work was authentic. Thomas Gray
liked the poems but had his doubts, and Samuel Johnson not only did not
like the poems, he had no doubts whatsoever about the true identity of the
author... Johnson's criticism eventually escalated into a heated exchange
of letters with Macpherson, some of which became public.

Doubts grew bit by bit as the years went by and new editions of "Ossian's
" works were published, and a year after Macpherson died (a very wealthy
man) in 1796, the Highland Society of Scotland launched an inquiry. They
ended up accusing Macpherson of not much more than careless editing, and
in general scholarly criticism of Macpherson has been fairly muted.
Indeed, in this volume Harvey avoids the question of authenticity
altogether, commenting-

    "I have no desire to enter into any
     dispute concerning the authenticity
     of these Poems, and have therefore,
     in compliance with custom, entitled
     my book 'Ossian's Fingal'. Whether
     they are really the compositions of
     Ossian, the fabrications of Macpherson,
     or traditionary Legends, I leave others
     to determine; certain however it is,
     that they contain many beauties, and
     I am willing to acknowledge that I
     never open the book without wishing
     to believe it authentic."

And so Macpherson and his work enjoyed a better fate than that accorded
most literary forgers. Unlike William Henry Ireland's spurious
"Shakespeare" plays, Macpherson's work had actual literary merit, and
unlike the literary masterpieces produced at about the same time by the
luckless Thomas Chatterton, Macpherson not only profited handsomely from
his creations, he lived a long life enjoying their fruits. A scarce title;
OCLC locates 2 copies. Hardcover. 5.5"x8.5", xvi + 246 pages, sporadic
light foxing, but nice wide margins. Bound in old quarter calf with raised
bands and gilt spine chains and rosettes; marbled boards; covers lightly
worn, hinges worn a bit more; modern bookplate. [05343] $250.00

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