An Evening Walk. An Epistle; in Verse. Addressed to a Young Lady, from the Lakes of the North of England.

WORDSWORTH, William.

Edité par London: for J. Johnson, 1793

A propos de cet article

First edition of the poet's first book. "The original 1793 quarto. is an extremely rare book; I doubt whether more than six or seven examples - exclusive of two imperfect copies which I have seen recently - could be recorded today" (Wise, p. 6). "The poem. describes scenes and images drawn from various places in the Lake District, and is not confined to a particular walk" (Patton, p. 1). Although Wise's number of copies can be revised, Patton stated in 1936 that there were only "eleven known copies". In 1950 Hayward noted that this was "the rarest of [Wordsworth's] books, less than a dozen copies being recorded" (Hayward, p. 88). We can trace only four copies as sold at auction in the last thirty years. The poem, written in heroic couplets, is addressed to Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy. It was written when Wordsworth was still at school and published when the poet was aged 23. Wordsworth never reprinted the full text. A typographical mistake on page 3, line 1 ("night" for "nigh") has been corrected in this copy with an abrasion to the final letter of the word. In this copy the "Argument" follows the "Errata" (as in the Ashley copy). In the Rothschild copy, the order is reversed. This copy was from the collection of Nicholas Frederic Brady (1878-1930), a New York businessman and philanthropist. He was the first American citizen to receive the Supreme Order of Christ, the highest order of chivalry awarded by the Pope. Provenance: Nicholas Frederic Brady, bookplate; Seven Gables Bookshop, New York, 1964; Library of William A. Strutz, booklabel to chemise. Hayward 201; Patton pp.1-2; Rothschild 2601; Tinker 2328; Wise 1. Quarto (249 x 200 mm), pp. [vi], 27, [1]. Early 20th-century crushed red morocco by Riviere & Son, spine with five raised bands, lettered and tooled in gilt, covers with triple ruled border in gilt, gilt dentelles, gilt edges, bound with 31 blank leaves. Later red cloth chemise and slipcase by James MacDonald Co., New York. Joints and extremities a little worn in places, some minor scratches to covers, browning to free endpapers, inner margin of title page renewed, fore edge of "Argument" leaf renewed; a very good copy.

N° de réf. du vendeur 175222

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: An Evening Walk. An Epistle; in Verse. Addressed to a Young Lady, from the Lakes of the North of England.
• Éditeur: London: for J. Johnson, 1793
• Édition: Edition originale