MACLEOD, Fiona, pseud. (SHARP, William) The Mountain Lovers. FIRST EDITION. John Lane. (Keynotes series, no. 17) 1895
Half title, title designed by Aubrey Beardsley, 12pp reviews, 16pp unopened cata. (1895). Uncut in orig. light blue cloth, blocked in white, spine lettered in gilt; spine sl. faded otherwise a nice bright copy.
¶William Sharp, 1855-1905, Scottish novelist, poet, and biographer; he was a friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and had a strained professional relationship with W.B. Yeats. He first wrote under his pseudonym Fiona Macleod in 1893 and his first Macleod novel Pharais was published in 1894. Sharp managed to keep his identity as Macleod secret throughout most of his lifetime, but after his death his sister Elizabeth published a biographical memoir explaining his creative process and need for a pen name. Sharp was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn during the 1890s with fellow Keynote authors Arthur Machen and Florence Farr.