AUTHORIAL TYPESCRIPT WITH CORRECTIONS OF A NOVEL OF THE SCOTTISH ISLANDS: Eilean More

Full length pre-publication typescript with extensive authorial corrections to this novel set on a remote Scottish Hebridean island off the coast of Wester Ross. The island - Eilian More - is the beautifully described backdrop to the machinations of its Chief, Evan Urquhart, whose castle is burned to the ground in the final chapter by his greatest rival on the island. Davidson (1889-1980) wrote two novels, both published by Longmans in London and New York.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: This is a professional typescript, gathered into 19 chapters, with corrections, insertions and deletions to every page. In his emendations Davidson seems to have paid particular attention to reshaping his characterisation of the female characters, notably Urquhart’s downtrodden wife. Urquhart’s education takes place during the early chapters at ‘Marischal College, Aberdeen’ one of the few happy interludes in the book, where the young scholar is particularly impressed by John Hepburn, ‘a Scottish schoolmaster of the most daemonic type.’ The typescript, c300 pages of A4, typed on rectos only, is accompanied by a first edition of the book as published.