The Scots Worthies, by John Howie, Johnstone, Hunter, and Company, Edinburgh, 1870

First published in 1775, John Howie's The Scots Worthies became one of the best-known collections of biographies from Scotland's Presbyterian and Covenanting tradition. Drawing together the lives of ministers, reformers, Covenanters and martyrs from the Reformation through the religious conflicts of the seventeenth century, Howie recounts the careers and sufferings of figures including John Knox, George Wishart, Andrew Melville, Alexander Henderson, Richard Cameron and Donald Cargill. Written from a strongly Presbyterian perspective, the work helped preserve the memory of the Covenanters for generations of Scottish readers and became particularly influential in nineteenth-century popular religious culture. This 1870 edition was revised from Howie's original text by the Rev. W. H. Carslaw and is extensively illustrated with historical portraits, landscapes and decorative ornament. The Scots Worthies, by John Howie of Lochgoin. Revised from the Author's Original Edition, by the Rev. W.H. Carslaw, M.A.. The Illustrations have been produced: The Landscapes and Ornaments by various Artists, Engraved under the superintendence of Mr. David W. Williamson; The Historical Portraits by Mr. Hector Chalmers, Engraved by Messrs Schenck & McFarlane. Published by Johnstone, Hunter, and Company, Edinburgh, 1870. A good hardback with black leather spine and corners, with black cloth over boards. Spine with raised bands, blind embossed thistle decoration to compartments, and burgundy morocco gilt title label. Covers with some scuffing, rubbing and bumping. Front inner hinge cracked at endpapers. Binding is sound. Text block with marbled edges. Text is clear with mild age-toning. Well illustrated throughout. Text in English. xxxii + 627pp. Dimensions: approximately: 216mm high x 148mm wide x 37mm deep. Weight: approximately 942g (unpacked).