Letters From Percy Bysshe Shelley to Elizabeth Hitchener Now First Published. With An Introduction and Notes

Shelley, Percy Bysshe ; Bertram Dobell [Editor-SIGEND] ; H. Buxton Foman, Esq. [Recipient]

Edité par Bertram Dobell, London, 1908

A propos de cet article

li, 351 pages; Publisher's pale plum linen, spine lettered in dark brown and with a decorative device in gilt. An unworn copy, but with some lifting of the binding cloth -- particularly at the edges, and minor cover spine -- particularly along the spine. This copy of the first trade publication of these letters is greatly enhanced by a presentation inscription from the publisher / editor, Bertram Dobell, to the dean of Shelley collectors of his time. This ink inscription appears in ink on the front free-endpaper: "H. B. Foman, Esq. / with the compls. and good / wishes of Bertram Dobell." Beneath this inscription, Mr. Dobell has ventured into verse: "To Shelley, both of us pay homage due / I a poor squire, his Knightly cham_ / pion you. (pen flourish). The presentation is confirmed by the presence of the engraved, pictorial bookplate of H. Buxton Forman -- which depicts the collector working at papers at his desk, overseen by a portrait bust of Shelley on the shelves above. The provenance is further confirmed by the recipient's neat and tiny pencil note on the uppper corner of the verso of the front-free endpaper: HBF / "20 ii 08 / [day of recpt]" Forman has clipped and tucked a collection of reviews of the book loosely inside the rear cover -- there are minormarks from two cellophane stamp hinges (still present) which once held the clipped reviews in place. H[enry]. Buxton Forman [1842-1917] was an active book collector, bibliographer, editor and civil servant. He is still remembered his bibliographies of Percy Shelley and John Keats -- which seemed definitive in their time (and for many years afterward. For many years during the later decades of the nineteenth century, his name was frequently associated with the active collector and literary bibliographer Thomas James Wise. Alas, through some combination of avid admiration of the most collectable of poets and authors, Wise and Forman "published" a series of forgeries -- these were mostly genuine works, but issued by Wise and Forman in tiny private editions with false (or misleading imprints). But it must be stated that both these gentlemen kept busy with some legitimate activities and publications with the expanding world of collecting and bibliography. Both men were active in the "Shelley Society" from the time of its founding in 1885 -- (as was Bertram Dobell, publisher of this volume]. Most scholars consider that Forman withdrew from the nefarious end of his active literary life after recoverning from a mysterious illness in 1906 and his retiring from the Post Office in 1907. He appears to have wanted to disassociate himself from T. J. Wise (who continued with his old ways right up until exposure came in 1934 with the publication of ' An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets' in 1934 -- carefully written by two younger booksellers: Graham Pollard and John Carter. Forman was long gone by then -- but Pollard and Carter's well-researched and documented book ruined the lofty reputation of Thomas J. Wise as a collector and authority on literary matters. It should be acknowledged the both the letters published here and the circumstances under which this 1908 publication saw the light of day -- are entirely genuine. There is a statement on the final page of Bertram Dobell's introduction to this book: "These letters were transcribed in 1896 by Mr. Thos. J. Wise, who in 1900 printed them for private circulation only, in an issue . of thirty copies. The book is now reprinted from stereotyped plates then made; but the introduction and notes are now added for the first time."--p. li. This statement is neither completely true, nor entirely definitive as to the activity of Thomas J. Wise in relation to Shelley's correspondence with the unfortunate Miss Hitchener, who died in 1821. But without regard to the complicated tale of Wise's intervention in these texts, it can be confidently stated that the original letters passed as a legacy to Charles Hargrove who gav.

N° de réf. du vendeur 45884

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Letters From Percy Bysshe Shelley to Elizabeth Hitchener Now First Published. With An Introduction and Notes
• Éditeur: Bertram Dobell, London
• Date de parution: 1908
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: First trade; First.
• État de l'article: Very Good-
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Literature
  • Poetry
  • Modern First Editions