232

Ann Ward Radcliffe (1764-1823)

The Italian, or the Confessional of the Black Penitents. A Romance.

London: Printed for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies (Successors to Mr. Cadell), 1797.
First edition, three 12mo volumes; ex libris Lady Williamina Forbes, née Belsches (1776-1810), with her signature on all three title pages; also owned by Nathan Comfort Starr with bookplates and inscriptions; bound in full uniform contemporary marbled calf, quite worn, boards detached; occasional moderate to heavy intermittent staining to contents; 7 x 4 in. (3)

ESTC T114428.


The Italian was Radcliffe's fifth novel, published on the successful heels of her Mysteries of Udolpho, which came out in 1794. She was handsomely paid for the popular gothic novels she wrote in her 20s and 30s, earning 500 pounds for the Mysteries manuscript in a time an ordinary scribbler would be happy to get 10.

This particular set holds an intriguing Sir Walter Scott tie-in. Not only did Scott write an introduction to a posthumously published set of Radcliffe's works, he also carried a painful unrequited torch for  Williamina Forbes, former owner of this set. Scott first noticed Forbes (then Belsches) at church in Edinburgh when the girl was only 14. He called on the family at their estate at Fettercairn in Kincardineshire in the spring of 1796, hoping to romance young Williamina, but she had met and fallen in love with another, and poor Scott was left bereft. His pain haunted him for years, emerging in more than one doomed courtship plot line.

  • Condition: I: A6, B-P12. II: [-]1, B-Q12. III: A6, B-P12.

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April 23, 2026 10:30 AM EDT
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