William Sharp & Fiona Macleod

According to Elizabeth Sharp, “the life of William Sharp divides itself naturally into two halves; the first ends with the publication by W. S. of Vistas, and the second begins with Pharais, the first book signed by Fiona Macleod.” Although Sharp continued to publish under both names, popularity of the Fiona writings quickly surpassed that of the work Sharp published under his own name. As a poet yearning for respect and a recognized place in the Celtic revival, Sharp ironically found fame and recognition as a writer and a visionary in the persona of Fiona Macleod. In his correspondence with Yeats and others, Sharp embroidered artfully on the Fiona personage and his relationship with her, depicting her as a Scoto-Celtic visionary, his cousin, and the woman he truly loved. According to recent scholarship, the relationship was modeled on Sharp’s relationship with a woman Elizabeth Sharp called his “dear friend.” She was in fact, Edith Wingate Rinder, and it was her presence that enabled Sharp to write the stories and poems he attributed to Fiona Macleod. William Sharp wrote and published under the pseudonym “Fiona Macleod” between 1894 and 1905.

William Sharp, 1855-1905
Vistas
The Regent Library. Printed by Frank Murray at the Moray Press in Derby January 1894 and sold by Frank Murray at his Bookshops in Derby Leicester and Nottingham. 
Originally on loan from the collection of William F. Halloran

First Edition. Number 54 of a limited edition of 75 copies. Signed by William Sharp. Presentation copy: “To Wilfred Walter, in memory of the Poet, from the Poet’s Wife, June 1908,” in the handwriting of Elizabeth Amelia Sharp, William Sharp’s wife.

Fiona Macleod, 1855 -1905
Pharais, A Romance of the Isles 
The Regent Library. Printed by Harpur and Murray at the Moray Press in Derby May 1894 and sold by Frank Murray at his Bookshops in Derby Leicester and Nottingham. 
Originally on loan from the collection of William F. Halloran

First Edition. Number 38 of a limited edition of 75 copies. Signed by William Sharp’s sister Mary Sharp who provided the Fiona Macleod handwriting and performed other secretarial work for him.