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John Keats. Poems. London: Printed for C. & J. Ollier, 1817....
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Description
The fine Rabinowitz copy, uncut in original boards
John Keats. Poems. London: Printed for
C. & J. Ollier, 1817.8vo (174 x 103 mm). Half title, title-page with wood-engraved bust of Spenser, fly-titles preceding each section/poem, printed on wove paper watermarked John Dickson 1813. Original drab boards, original printed paper spine label, uncut; cloth slipcase.
FIRST EDITION of Keats's first book of poetry. Dedicated to Leigh Hunt, Poems features many of Keats's most significant early works, including "I stood tiptoe on a little hill...," "To Hope," "Sleep and Poetry," three verse epistles, plus 17 sonnets and other works. Among the sonnets is "On first looking into Chapman's Homer," often regarded as Keats's first major poem. As Sidney Colvin remarks, the book "is full of immaturities, but also of buoyancy and promise; striking the note of rebellion against the poetical methods and conventions of the eighteenth century more vigorously than it had been struck since the publication of the 'Lyrical ballads' twenty years before..." (DNB). While it received favorable notices from some critics, the book was a dismal commercial failure and the publishers claimed to have found it necessary to refund some dissatisfied purchasers. Its dedication to Hunt ultimately helped turn critical opinion against Keats as a member of the "Cockney school" of poetry.
Condition: Some wear to spine ends and corners; paper chipped at head of spine; some small chips along hinges; upper joint starting; front hinge cracked. A fine unsophisticated copy in original condition.
References: Ashley III, p. 9; Hayward 231; MacGillivray 1.
Provenance: Hannah D. Rabinowitz (bookplate); purchased from Seven Gables Bookshop, New York, 1967. From the William A. Strutz Library.
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Auction Info
2024 June 27 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6295 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2024
27th
Thursday
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