DRAMAS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

First Edition: title page, (i printer’s imprint), advertisement by the author, (i blank), (ii offering to the Manes of Eschylus), i contents, (i blank), 278 pages, (i half title page bound in at the end), pages, half brown calf with black leather title label on the spine gilt – the leather is worn along the edges and at the corners, marbled paper sides, slight browning of the text with old folds to the corners of some pages, overall a very good copy.

The contents comprise: The deluge; The plague of darkness; The last plague; Rizpah; Sardanapalus; The destiny of Cain; The death of Cain; and The Nereid's love.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Sholto_Douglas) Walter Sholto Douglas (1790–1830), born under the name Mary Diana Dods, was a Scottish writer of books, stories and other works. Despite being assigned a female identity, Douglas lived as a man in his private, public, and work life. Most of his works appeared under the pseudonym David Lyndsay. His name may have been partly inspired by his grandfather's name, Sholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton. He was a close friend and confidant of Mary Shelley, and the husband of Isabella Robinson. In 1980, scholar Betty T. Bennett sensationally outed Douglas, connecting his deadname with his writing pseudonym.

 See Wikipedia for the extended article.

Also:

National Library of Scotland (https://blog.nls.uk/i-am-always-uncertain-whether-or-not-i-see-a-real-or-an-assumed-signature-david-lyndsay-mary-diana-dods-and-walter-sholto-douglas/)

Friedman (Geraldine) Pseudonymity, Passing, and Queer Biography: The Case of Mary Diana Dods. (https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/ron/2001-n23-ron435/005985ar/)

Tidd (Natasha) The Mystery of Walter Sholto Douglas. (https://fyeahhistory.wordpress.com/2021/08/06/the-mystery-of-walter-sholto-douglas/)