Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry - Volume 1

Colin Smythe Ltd 1990 Facsimile of 1843 edition
Volume 1 only.
Considered to be Carleton's greatest work Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry went through a number of transformations before the `definitive edition' was published in 1842-1844. The books contains a wealth of illustrations by famous illustrators of the time. They give a good impression of the tales themselves, being crowded with laughing, weeping, fighting, working, playing, dying and praying peasants in sublime scenery, poverty-stricken cottages, cosy public houses, trim farms, broken-down barns, hillside chapels, hedge schools and hovels. Carleton aimed to show the Irish peasant honestly to the world, choosing simple, strong plots. He was praised in his day for the `light and shade' of his depictions of Irish character. A writer of great comic genius, he is nonetheless able to convey the horrors of poverty and peasant life with all its combinations of good and evil, fun and tragedy...