Citation: George MacDonald, The Portent: A Story of the Inner Vision of the Highlanders, Commonly called the Second Sight (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1864).
The Johannesen edition is reprinted from the 1909 Edition: George MacDonald, The Portent and Other Stories (London: Fisher Unwin, 1909). Contents:
- The Portent
- The Cruel Painter
- The Castle
- The Wow O’Riven
- The Broken Swords
- The Gray Wolf
- Uncle Cornelius. His Story.
The Portent: a story of the inner vision of the Highlanders, commonly called the second sight By George Macdonald. (sic). London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1864.
8vo, pp. viii + 290.
Dedicated (pp. iii-v) from Kensington, May, 1864, to Duncan McColl, Esq., R.N., Huntly, who was the uncle of his stepmother.
MacDonald reluctantly admitted that he himself had no trace of second sight. “I wrote it for the tale,” he said. The book was issued at 10s. 6d. A statement by H. A. P. in a letter to the Athenaeum (July 6, 1867, pp. 752-753) on the Celtic element in literature, that MacDonald had made out “implicit repudiation of his Celtic blood in the preface to ‘The Portent,’ ” greatly annoyed the author, who wrote a letter to the editor from Kensington, July 11, 1867. It was not printed, or perhaps was not sent, but it is given in Greville MacDonald’s life (pp. 318-319). H. A. P., among other things, said that “his power of representation seems to cease with the snapping of his sympathies through excessive tension,” and he accuses MacDonald of “hating” some of his characters.
- 1860. The story was serialised anonymously in the Cornhill Magazine (May, June, July, 1860), i., 617-630, 670-681, ii., 74-83, with one illustration, which Dr. Greville MacDonald calls “absurd,” by W. J. Linton. MacDonald got £40 for the serial rights and £30 for the copyright.
- 1871. Reprinted in “Works of fancy and imagination,” vol. vii
- 1885. Published as no. 1921 of Munro’s Seaside Library, New York, and as no. 325 of the pocket edition of the same.
- 1902. Published by Munro, New York: 12mo, pp. 75 (New York Pub. Lib.).
- (1909.) Published as no. 4 of the Adelphi Library, “The Portent and other stories,” by Fisher Unwin: 8vo, pp. xii + 275 + (1): printed by Morrison & Gibb, Edinburgh. The other stories are: The Cruel Painter; The Castle; The Wow o’ Rivven; The Broken Swords; The Gray Wolf; and Uncle Cornelius: his story.
- N.D. Published by Loring, Portland, Maine.
These publication pages are a collaborative effort of members of The George MacDonald Society. We welcome comments on the individual publication pages to help improve the scope, accuracy, and utility of the descriptions.