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Sartaroe. Maitland, James A..
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SARTAROE.

BY J. A. MAITLAND.

AUTHOR OF "THE WATCHMAN," "THE WANDERER," "THE DIARY OF AN OLD DOCTOR," "THE LAWYER'S STORY," ETC., ETC.

Complete in one large volume, neatly found in cloth, for One Dollar and Twenty-five Cents; or in two volumes, paper cover, for One Dollar.

This work has received the highest approbation of our Reader, and the unqualified approbation of WASHINGTON IRVING, To whom the book is dedicated, WITH HIS EXPRESS PERMISSION; and we take pleasure in appending here a copy of a letter from Washington Irving to the Author, in relation to it.

Sunnyside, Irvington, Nov. 1st, 1857. MY DEAR FRIEND:

According to promise, I have read "Sartaroe," and now will give you my opinion of the book in a word. It is highly creditable to your genius. It is excellent; all in all, the best novel issued from the American press for some years past. It must certainly meet with success. I will do my best for you. You ought to clear, at least, $4,000 or $5,000 by it. I have written to Murray, of London, my old publisher, at I told you I would, and I have advised him to reprint the book there, and have assured him that he ought to send the Author ¥200 sterling for the privilege of printing the work in England. You may use this when the book comes out.

With the greatest esteem, I am your Friend,

WASHINGTON IRVING.

JAS. A. MAITLAND, N. Y.

The field upon which the Author has now tried his pen, is one which, notwithstanding it abounds in romance, and is fertile in natural beauty, has rarely engaged the attention of the writer of fiction. The scenes and plot are laid in Norway and the United States, alternately and the main, incident of the tale page: Advertisement[View Page Advertisement] is one of engrossing interest, viz.: the courage and devotion of a young Norwegian peasant girl, who saved her lover (a guide falsely accused of the murder of a traveler) from ignominious punishment, by voluntarily, and unknown to her friends, undertaking a perilous journey to the Hardanger Field Mountain Range, and bringing the supposed murdered man—who had fallen from a precipice—into Court, at the moment of the Judge was pronouncing sentence. This is a story—elaborated—often related with pride by the people of Bergen, the ancient capital of Norway.

The Author has traveled over the part of Norway which he has endeavored to describe, viz.: from Bergen to Christiansund, near the Arctic Circle, and has witnessed the majestic scenery, and talked with the simple and interesting people of that country; consequently, there is a freshness in the narrative portions of the book which otherwise could not have existed.

Other incidents, worked into the plot, and adding to the interest of the tale—having relation to the United States and the Norwegian Colony in Wisconsin—keep the attention of the reader earnestly engrossed to the end; but these we can merely allude to in the compass of a brief circular.

We have every expectation, from our knowledge of the popularity of the Author, that this, decidedly the most elaborate and interesting of his books, will meet with great success.

Copies of either edition of "SARTAROE" will be sent to any person, to any part of the United States, free of postage, on their remitting the price of the edition they may wish, to the publishers, in a letter post-paid.

Published and for Sale by

T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS, No. 306 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.

SARTAROE
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SARTAROE: A TALE OF NORWAY.

BY

JAMES A. MAITLAND.

AUTHOR OF "THE WATCHMAN," "THE WANDERER," "THE LAWYER'S STORY," "THE DIARY OF AN OLD DOCTOR," ETC., ETC. Sunnyside, Irvington, Nov. 1st, 1857. MY DEAR FRIEND: According to promise I have read "Sartaroe," and now will give you my opinion of the book in a word. It is highly creditable to your genius—it is excellent; all in all, the best novel issued from the American press for some years past. It must certainly meet with success. I will do my best for you. You ought to clear, at least, $4,000 or $5,000 by it. I have written to Murray, of London, my old publisher, as I told you I would, and I have advised him to reprint the book there, and have assured him that he ought to send the author ¥200 sterling for the privilege of printing the work in England. * * * * You may use this when the book comes out. With the greatest esteem, I am your friend, WASHINGTON IRVING. JAMES A. MAITLAND, N. Y.

Philadelphia: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS, NO. 306 CHESTNUT STREET.

page: v[View Page v]

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by W. P. FETRIDGE & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by T. B. PETERSON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

TO
WASHINGTON IRVING,
This Tale of Norway
IS, WITH HIS PERMISSION,
DEDICATED,
AS A SINCERE TRIBUTE OF ESTEEM AND ADMIRATION,
BY HIS OBLIGED AND GRATEFUL FRIEND,

THE AUTHOR.

SOUTH BROOKLYN, Sept. 1 1857.
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PREFACE.

THE chief incidents of the following tale have been suggested by the recollections of a tour on the western coast of Norway, undertaken by the author several years ago. The loss of a vessel off the Island of Sartaroe, opposite Bergen, while the author was in that city, and the saving of the life of one man, only, out of the passengers and crew on board, under circumstances nearly the same as those narrated, provided a hero for the story, and a well-known (in Norway) Norsk legend suggested the catastrophe upon which the plot hinges.

Of late years Norway has been widely explored by tourists, and the gloomy but magnificent beauty of its scenery is better known and appreciated now than it was even ten years ago; yet, although the country abounds in matter of romantic interest to the poet, artist, and romancist, it has seldom occupied the attention of the writer of fiction.

If any reader object to an incident described in the latter portion of the story, which he may deem improbable, the author begs to assure him that to his knowledge a similar case occurred, and there are several others on record. He does not pretend to explain the cause either theoretically or philosophically. He can only say to the doubter, in the language of Hamlet, page: viii-ix (Table of Contents) [View Page viii-ix (Table of Contents) ] "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy." There are facts occurring every day which neither the greatest master, nor the most fertile inventor of fiction dare to put on paper, lest he be charged with extravagance and absurdity.

The author has been indebted for the beautiful though somewhat free translations of portions of Norwegian national and drinking songs to the pen of Miss Pardoe; but the descriptions of Norwegian scenery, though he is aware that they must fail to convey any idea of the wild and savage grandeur of this portion of the earth, are drawn from his own recollections, and the deep impressions, never to be obliterated, which that scenery made upon his mind.

BROOKLYN, August 18th, 1857.

CONTENTS.

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