Lord Byron (Over 6,700 results)

3 pp. on a single sheet bifolium, with address To Msgr Stevens, Argostoli. 8vo. 'I must sail . I shall sail'. A notable Byron letter, showing his commitment to join the armed struggle in Greece, just before he left Cephalonia for the Greek mainland. As is frequently the case, Byron writes beneath a letter from Count Gamba (whose sister was Byron's mistress Countess Guiccioli), addressed "Caro Stevens". The correspondent, George Stevens, was a customs official at Argostoli on Cephalonia and a recipient of several letters from Byron in 1823. "P.S. Dear sir, Gamba is half asleep and and [sic] don't know what he says. I do not suppose it to be Parry's Brigade - but whoever or whatever it be - if it came from the committee I will attend to it with all diligence. The boats had better be engaged, because if this intelligence is not confirmed I must sail at any rate, and even if it be, I shall sail as soon as possible after communicating with the vessels on their voyage, which (if my instructions do not err, or I for them) are committed to my direction. I do not perceive however how a ship directed to Greece Continental from London can touch at Ancona in its propoer course, unless it has continued to pass the Alps by Steam or a special wind of Providence added to a new Deluge. But whether correct or otherwise the repeat of our friend Count Delladecima believe that I am ever and truly ." Byron had been staying on Cephalonia since August. Edward Trelawny, his opportunistic and self-aggrandizing sometime travelling companion, had gone to Greece in September and was soon converted to another faction in the Greek struggle for independence. In November, Byron was besieged by requests for money (and a week after this letter would pledge large sums to the cause). Here, he demonstrates a considerable flash of wit and knowledge of current technology, as he reminds his correspondent of the realities of Italian geography and suggests Steam power or a new Deluge as the only possible explanation for a proposed itinerary (Ancona is on the Adriatic far to the north of Cephalonia). As the representative of the London Greek Committee, "Byron remained in Cephalonia with Pietro Gamba multiplying his Greek contacts and assessing information he was gathering as a prelude to action. When Prince Alexander Mavrocordatos, who eventually became first president of independent Greece, moved to Missolonghi in December he invited Byron to join him and his forces" (ODNB). Byron and Gamba departed from Argostoli on 29 December 1823. Gamba's vessel was captured and briefly held by the Turks; Byron reached Missolonghion 4 January 1824. This letter was previously known only in an excerpt from the description in catalogue 44 of F. Naylor, July 1878 (incorrectly dated to May and lacking the name of the correspondent), published in A Heart for Every Fate: Byron's Letters and Journals, Vol. 10 (1980), pp. 161-162. A CHOICE BYRON LETTER FROM JUST BEFORE HIS FATEFUL EXPEDITION TO MISSOLONGHI. Marchand 10:161-2 (a partial transcription, misdated to May 1823) Small tear above signature, from opening, wax seal still present. Old docketing in French 3 pp. on a single sheet bifolium, with address To Msgr Stevens, Argostoli. 8vo.

Scarce complete first edition set of Byron's great work which was widely criticized as immoral upon publication and is now considered one of the greatest poems of the Romantics; from the library of American writer Erica Jong. Volume one was produced in quarto format and the subsequent 5 volumes in octavo (Davison abandoned the quarto format after disappointing sales of the first volume), six volumes uniformly bound in full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With an autograph letter signed by Lady Byron bound into the first volume. Written from Moore Place, Esher, the letter reads in part, "Dear Sir, I am much obliged to you for offering to look for another young Teacher in place of the one who is engaged, but I have no difficulty in finding a Substitute. I should however be glad if you could find me an older master for a situation in Warwickshire - to manage a day-school on the Garden plan for Bogs - the emolument would not exceed 20 to 24 [pounds] with Board - He would be under the direction of a very good Clergyman - A single man would be preferred, there being no room at the Schoolhouse for him - she must lodge at some distance. Lady Olivia Sparrow is still active in her charitable undertakings, though I sometimes wish they were less governed by hasty feelings in religious matters. Yours truly A.I. Noel Byron Moore Place Esher Nov 19th." From the library of Erica Jong. Jong remains best known for her 1973 novel Fear of Flying which became famously controversial for its portrayal of female sexuality and figured prominently in the development of second-wave feminism. Written in the first person and narrated by its protagonist, 29-year-old American poet Isadora Wing, Fear of Flying was written in the throes of the Sexual Revolution of the 1970s and encapsulated the movementâ s redefinition of female sexuality. In interviews, Jong stated: â At the time I wrote Fear of Flying, there was not a book that said women are romantic, women are intellectual, women are sexualâ "and brought all those things togetherâ ¦ What [Isadora is] looking for is how to be a whole human being, a body and a mind, and that is what women were newly aware they needed in 1973.â The novel remains a feminist classic and has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Jong notable used a quotation fromÂDonÂJuan as the epigraph in Fear of Flying, "Alas! the love of women! it is known To be a lovely and a fearful thing; For all of theirs upon that die is thrown, And if 'tis lost, life hath no more to bring To them but mockeries of the past alone, And their revenge is as the tiger's spring, Deadly, and quick, and crushing; yet, as real Torture is theirs -- what they inflict they feel. They are right; for man, to man so oft unjust, Is always so to women; one sole bond Awaits them -- treachery is all their trust; Taught to conceal, their bursting hearts despond Over their idol, till some wealthier lust Buys them in marriage -- and what rests beyond A thankless husband -- next, a faithless lover -- Then dressing, nursing, praying -- and all's over. Some take a lover, some take drams or prayers, Some mind their household, others dissipation, Some run away, and but exchange their cares, Losing the advantage of a virtuous station; Few changes e'er can better their affairs, Theirs being an unnatural situation, From the dull palace to the dirty hovel: Some play the devil, and then write a novel" (Lord Byron, Don Juan, 1824). In fine condition. Scarce and with fine provenance. "The War and Peace of English poetry, Don Juan contains an epic sweep that moves from Spain, to the East, and to Russia before ending in Englandâ ¦ At the same time that Byron's broad canvas foretells the scope of the great 19th-century novels, the poet's own sensibilities echo the picaresque 18th-century novels of his early reading, Smollett and Fielding, with their bawdy humor and sly inversions of vice and virtue. Unlike these prose narratives, however, Don Juan has no beginning, middle, or end. It draws us in, not to learn 'what happens next' but to hear what this seductive, confidential, teasing voice is going to tell us" (Eisler, 610). When Cantos I through V appeared, they did so without the name of either author or publisher on the title page. Publisher John Murray refused to print Byron's dedicatory poem, which ridiculed English poet laureate Robert Southey, and Byron refused to put his name on a censored publication. Because of Byron's change from his long-standing publisher Murray to John Hunt (brother of writer Leigh Hunt) midway through Don Juan, complete first-edition copies with all cantos are scarce.

Leather. Condition: Very Good/No Jacket. Illustrated (illustrator). Gilt lettered and decorated cover and spine. Marbled endpapers. Wonderful association copy. Illustrated (and originally bound) by Elizabeth and Margaret Pigot. Contents Include: Siege of Corinth & Parisina, 1816; Prisoner Of Chillon, 1816; Sonnet Stanzas to ["his sister"]in E.P.¿s hand; Darkness, Churchill¿s Grave, The Dream, The Incantation, Prometheus, Notes To the prisoner Of Chillon Etc. Manfred, 1817; Hebrew Melodies, 1815 and more. This unique book contains illustrations & manuscript poetry: Watercolor of Fransesca, 4" x 5", signed E. Pigot [ Elizabeth Pigot]; Watercolor of Chillon, 8" x 5", 1822, signed E. B. Pigot;18 lines of poetry by E. Pigot, in her hand, and signed "E. B. Pigot", A note stating: Chillon ¿. and signed May ending " May 1823 Margaret Pigot, with a manuscript fragment in French dated 1663; Watercolor of a temple, 4"x 5.5", signed M. Pigot, with the handwritten title. Watercolor, 8" x 5", signed by M.P., titled: "Monch Tigher and Jungfrau"; Watercolor of pastoral scene, 8" x 5", signed by M.P., no title; Watercolor of waterfall and rainbow, 8" x 5", signed by M.P., titled: "I will call her"; 2 small pencil drawings, unsigned; 32 steel plates, several with handwritten titles by E. Pigot; Cartouche of Byron on front endpaper; and MORE. Elizabeth Bridgot Pigot (1783-1866) was a correspondent, friend and biographic source for Lord Byron. Pigot would copy out the poems that Byron sent her. Some of Byron's early encouragement with his poetry came from Pigot. In 1806 and 1807 Elizabeth and her brother helped to expedite the publication of three of Byron's poetic works.

27, [1] pp. 4to. First edition. First edition. 27, [1] pp. 4to. This poem was for Byron something of an experiment, which is why he adopted a pseudonym. After a rather lukewarm reception, Byron disowned the poem entirely. A small cache of uncut copies was discovered at some time in the mid-19th century, and most surviving examples, including this one, are from this source. Ashley 1:149-50; First Edition Club/Byron 7a; Hayward 220; Wise I:71-72. Provenance: William Waldorf, Viscount Astor (armorial bookplate) Full red morocco gilt by Riviere, spine gilt-lettered. Joints starting, some rubbing, bottom and fore-edge uncut; title-page lighty soiled, some light foxing.

Fine Binding. Condition: Very Good Indeed. None (illustrator). First edition. A beautifully bound collection of Lord Byron's poetry. A selection of first edition issues of his poems, with a finely executed fore-edge painting depicting the castle of Chillon. With two plates to the Siege of Corinth, one plate to the Prisoner of Chillon, one plate to Manfred. The plates are marked 'proof' to the corner. Comprising of eleven poems total which are: The Giaour (1813), The Siege of Corinth A Poem Parisina A Poem (1816), The Prisoner of Chillon and Other Poems (1816), Poems on Domestic Circumstances (1816), Monody on the Death of The Right Honourable R B Sheridan (1817), The Lament of Tasso (1817), Manfred A Dramatic Poem (1817), Mazeppa (1819), Beppo A Venetian Story (1818), The Age of Bronze (1823). With a fore-edge painting of the Castle of Chillon which has been finely executed. In a beautiful straight-grained morocco binding with silk doublures. Held in a very smart custom built cloth covered slipcase. The Giaour is the third edition, The Siege of Corinth, a Poem, Parisina a Poem is a first edition, The Prisoner of Chillon is a first edition, later issue. Poems on Domestic Circumstances is a first edition. 'Monody' is a New Edition. The Lament of Tasso is a third edition. Manfred is a first edition, third issue. Mazeppa is a first edition. Beppo A Venetian Story is a fifth edition. The Age of Bronze is a third edition. The Siege of Corinth. has with the two pages of advertisements, three pages of notes following Corinth and one page of notes following Parisina as called for. The Prisoner of Chillon has been bound without the half-title and adverts 'Poems on Domestic Circumstances' is an unusual imprint and has been published by Bumpus rather than the typically stated Hone. This copy has been bound without the half title. Manfred has been bound without the half-title and adverts, and is a third issue with the two line quotation from Hamlet to the title page. Mazeppa is lacking pages 70-71 which are usually blanks with the imprints. A beautiful copy of Lord Byron's poetry. In a full straight grained morocco binding with silt doublures. With an exquisite fore edge painting depicting the castle of Chillon, from Byron's poem 'The Prisoner of Chillon'. The fore edge is bright with a very detailed image. Externally, generally smart with patches of light rubbing to the joints and to the spine. Small splits to the head of front joint. Front hinge is strained but firm. Prior owner's stamp to the verso of front endpaper, HNF. First gathering, comprising of endpapers and half-title of Giaour is loosening. The title page to 'The Giaour' is loosening also. Neat inscription to the verso of front endpaper, 'The Castle of Chillon'. The same is written to the half-title of 'The Giaour'. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright with occasional scattered spots, and minor offsetting. Very Good Indeed. book.

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Book Is in fair condition for its age but I would say in need of repair. Can still be read by being very careful. Some red pen underlining in the book as well.

8vo. 1 p. Double sheet. Written in third person to Mr and Mrs Conell: Ld. Byron presents his compliments to Mr. + Mrs. [ ] But he will certainly have the pleasure of joining the party in the evening about 20 o'clock.".

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. THE EXCEEDINGLY RARE PIRATED PRINTING WITH BYRON'S NAME ON THE TITLE PAGE. 1 vol., 20.8mm x 13.8mm, 46pp., with the half-title, complete, extracted, internally clean and bright. Housed in a cloth clamshell box, gilt lettered black morocco spine label. OCLC locates only 8 copies in institutions. Seven in the U.S. and one in the UK. Polidori's famous story was first published in the ''New Monthly Magazine'' for April 1, 1819, shamelessly ascribed to Lord Byron, as was the first issue of the separate printing. In the May edition of New Monthly, much to the readers' surprise, a letter by Dr. John Polidori (Lord Byron's physician) was published. He acknowledged the fact that the tale was based loosely upon a story which Byron had begun and summarily abandoned, and Polidori insisted that The Vampyre was his own work. "As the contents of the New Monthly Magazine were not copyrighted in 1819, anyone was free to publish the contents without permission of the owner. John Miller of London took advantage of this lack of protection by printing an edition of "The Vampyre" independent of Henry Colburn or Sherwood, Neely, and Jones. As it was printed by J. Johnson from the magazine article, it carried the author line: "By Lord Byron." The text only was reset, omitting all the preliminaries and the appendix found in all other editions printed in London the same year." - The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America , Vol. 63, No. 2 (Second Quarter, 1969), pp. 83-100.

Hardcover. Condition: Near fine. First edition. Bound volume containing works by or attributed to Lord Byron from 1814 to 1819. 'Lara' is the 4th edition, L. 1814. 'Poems by Lord Byron' is the first US edition, NY, 1816. 'The Prisoner of Chillon is the first edition, L., 1816. 'Beppo' is the 6th edition, L., 1818. 'Mazeppa' is the first edition, 2nd issue, L. 1819. 'The Vampyre' is first edition, L., 1819. All bound in one volume in contemporary half leather, marbled paper boards. Light wear to the binding else near fine. 'The Prisoner of Chillon is first state with ads on page 62. 'The Poems' contain five pieces; the half title is present. This title is lightly foxed. 'Mazeppa' is first edition second state, with the imprint on the reverse of p. 71 and the printer's name on the verso of the half title. The 'Fragment', also known as 'Fragment of a Novel', is present. Byron's unfinished horror story that is one of the first in English to feature a vampire theme. 'The Vampyre' is first edition, the Sherwood, Neely third Issue. Half-title is present. The 'Extract', pp. 73-84, is present. This title has a curious bibliographic history, with first issues attributing authorship to Lord Byron, then removing Byron's name, then this issue (Viets IV), with gathering 'A' reset to 23 lines to account for the removal of a slur on Mary Godwin and Jane Clermont and with 'lmost' on page 36. Earlier issues are nearly unavailable, making this essentially the earliest printing obtainable of the first book on vampires. See Viets in PBSA LXIII (1969), 83-103. So there you have it. Both Byron's and Polidori's offerings in one volume from that fateful night in Switzerland that also gave us Shelley's 'Frankenstein'. .

First edition, first issue. First edition, first issue. [xiv], 187 pp. 1 vols. 8vo (7 x 4.5 in.). Presentation Copy to a Harrow Friend. Byron's first regularly published book, following the privately printed Fugitive Pieces and Poems on Various Occasions. Inscribed on a front flyleaf by the recipient: "The gift of Lord Byron, James Wynne De Bathe. September 1807. London." De Bathe (1792-1828) attended Harrow with Byron and was included in the circle of his closest friends: "Clare, Dorset, Charles Gordon, De Bathe, Claridge, and John Wingfield, were my juniors and favourites, whom I spoilt by indulgence" (Life, p. 21). Byron's affection for his schoolmates is celebrated in "Childish Recollections," printed here at page 148. In a letter of 2 February 1808, Byron writes to De Bathe to reminisce about Harrow and announce his upcoming tour of Greece and Turkey, extending a playful invitation to his friend: "What say you? are you disposed for a view of the Peloponnesus and a voyage through the Archipelago?" We trace only one other association copy of Hours of Idleness - a copy inscribed to Edward Noel Long was sold by Sotheby's in 1976. Wise Byron, I, pp. 7-8; Hayward 218; Randolph, p. 9. Provenance: James Wynne de Bathe (inscription noting presentation from Byron); Henry P. de Bathe (bookplate) Contemporary red straight-grained morocco, a.e.g. Front hinge tender starting, front free endpaper removed, else fine [xiv], 187 pp. 1 vols. 8vo (7 x 4.5 in.).

London: Printed by Thomas Davison, 1819-1821; Printed for John Hunt, 1823; Printed for John and H.L. Hunt, 1824. First editions, complete in six volumes (Cantos I and II in one large-paper quarto volume: 10 3/4 x 8 inches; 272 x 204 mm; Cantos III-XVI in five octavo volumes: 8 1/8 x 5 1/8 inches; 207 x 129 mm). [4], 227, [1, printer's imprint]; [4], 218, [1, blank], [1, printer's imprint]; vii, [1, blank], [1], [1, blank], 184, [2, ads ("Publications by John Hunt," dated July, 1823)]; 151, [1, printer's imprint]; 168; 129, [1, publisher's imprint], [2, ads ("Published by John and H. L. Hunt," dated March, 1824)] pp. With the half-titles in volumes I and II (no half-titles called for in the last four volumes) and errata slip in volume VI. Bound without publisher's ads in volume IV and one of two ads in volume VI. Uniformly bound by Zaehnsdorf in full navy polished calf. All volumes rebacked, preserving original spines and labels. Boards triple ruled in gilt. Spines stamped and ruled in gilt. Each spine with two red morocco labels. Gilt dentelles. Board edges gilt. All edges gilt. Silk placeholders. Marbled endpapers. Some chipping to labels of volume I, II, IV. boards with some light rubbing. Some cccasional light foxing, as usual. Otherwise, an excellent and attractive set. Don Juan, Byron's unfinished epic satire in ottava rima, was published in sixteen cantos between 1819 and 1824. "Don Juan, a young gentleman of Seville, is sent abroad by his mother at the age of 16, in disgrace after an intrigue. His ship is wrecked and the passengers take to the long-boat. After many tribulations, in the course of which first Juan's spaniel and then his tutor are eaten by the crew, Juan is cast up on a Greek island. He is restored to life by Haidée, the daughter of a Greek pirate, and the pair fall in love. The father, who is supposed dead, returns, finds the lovers together, and captures the fighting Juan, who is put in chains on one of the pirate's ships. He is then sold as a slave in Constantinople to a sultana who has fallen in love with him. He arouses her jealousy and is threathened with death, but escapes to the Russian army, which is besieging Ismail. Because of his gallant conduct he is sent with dispatches to St Petersburg, where he attracts the favour of the Empress Catherine, who sends him on a political mission to England. The last cantos (the â English cantos') of the unfinished work are taken up with a satirical description of social conditions in England and with the love affairs of Juan.Don Juan himself is a charming, handsome young man, who delights in succumbing to the beautiful women he meets, but his character is little more than the connecting thread in a long social comedy, a poetical novel, of satirical fervour and wit. The first two cantos were ill-received by the critics, who called them â an insult and an outrage' and â a filthy and impious poem', but the work became increasingly successful with the general public and was much admired by Goethe, who translated a part of it" (The Oxford Companion to English Literature). Ashley Library I, pp. 157-159. Tinker 571. Wise, Byron, II, pp. 3-8. HBS 68418. $8,000.

Full-Leather. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. Volume measuring approx. 8 inches tall, containing 3 works by or attributed to Lord Byron from 1818 to 1819. Bound in full dark blue morocco by Bayntun of Bath, lettered and decorated in gilt, edges lightly rubbed, front outer hinge cracked and starting to loosen slightly, spine mildly sunned; all contents nearly FINE, clean and unmarked and free of age toning or spotting, binding square and tight. "Mazeppa" is the First edition, Second state, London, 1819, with the imprint on the reverse of p. 71 and the printer's name on the verso of the half title; the 'Fragment' is present, pagination 2 leaves, [1]-71, [1] ads. "The Vampyre" is the First Edition, the Sherwood, Neely third Issue, London, 1819, half-title is present, the 'Extract', pp. 73-84, is present; paginated [i] - 84. Gathering 'A' reset to 23 lines, and "lmost" at beginning of final line p. 36. "Beppo" is the Fourth edition, London 1818, 51, [1] pages. Also bound at the end is an extra work "Letter to **** ******, on the Rev. W.L. Bowles' strictures on the Life and Writings of Pope", Second edition, London, 1821, 61 pages.

First edition, first impression, extra-illustrated and handsomely bound by Bayntun with a portrait of Byron to the front. "Whether a book is called 'The Love Affairs of Lord Byron' or 'The Life of Lord Byron' can make very little difference to the contents of its pages. Byron's love affairs were the principal incidents of his life, and almost the only ones" (Preface). Octavo (215 x 150 mm). Finely bound by Bayntun Riviere in red morocco, titles and compartments richly gilt to spine, raised bands tooled in gilt, gilt rules and floral borders to covers, Cosway-style oval miniature of Byron under glass to front, turn-ins tooled gilt, red moiré silk endpapers, edges gilt, two red silk bookmarks. With 5 coloured plates, and an additional 10 black and white plates. Spine a little sunned, small glue stain to gutter of initial binder's blank, short closed tear to foot of p. 289 and p. 291, one bookmark frayed, pale foxing to plate facing p. 18. A near-fine copy.

Condition: Very Good. First/Early. The Atheneum; Or, Spirit of the English Magazines, Vol. V, April to October 1819. Containing one of the first U. S. printings of The Vampyre, here falsly attributed to Lord Byron. The Vampyre is the first vampire tale in English and was the result of the same competition between Byron, the Shelley's, and others that resulted in Frankenstein. Adapted by John Polidori, from the tale of Lord Byron's. The work was originally published on 1 April 1819 by Henry Colburn in The New Monthly Magazine. Here it was falsly attributed to Lord Byron to capitalize on his celebrity. By July, Lord Byron had emphatically denied authorship, and by August, Polidori was correctly listed as author. This edition contains the history of that progression. The publication is from the June issue and is fully attributed to Byron. In the July section is a short letter from Polidori asserting authorship and describing, "attributing that tale, in its present form, to Lord Byron. The fact is that although the groundwork is certainly Lord Byron's, its development is mine, produced at the request of a lady." The index to the book, which would have been completed shortly before its publication in late 1819, correctly lists Polidori as the author. This publication also includes original and recent anecdotes of Napoleon on St. Helena, an early American printing of Mazeppa, a poem about a Ukranian hero by Lord Byron, and early Scottish assessments of the American education system, among numerous other stories, poems, letters, and notes. Bound in later green cloth over boards with gilded lettering and lines on spine. Residue from old paper covers at corners and on front and rear pastedowns. Solid and square binding. Red ink flecks on lower edge. Bookplate from Forbes Library on front pastedown with other stamps and seals in the first few pages, including title page. Some age toning to pages, ink is clear and dark. Overall a very good or better copy of a very rare edition of this early work of horror among many others. Pages:496 Dimensions:8¾ x 5½ x 1¾ .

The Edition des Amateurs, one of 100 copies signed by the editor of the complete works of Lord Byron. Octavo, 16 volumes. Bound in full contemporary morocco, elaborate tooling to the front and rear panels with central arms, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, top edge gilt, frontispieces and plates each in three states. Edited by Richard Henry Stoddard. In fine condition. An exceptional set. "Byron is to a far greater degree than the other romanticists the poet of humankind. He conveys with tremendous power the majesty and desolation of history, the vanity of pomp and pride, the transitoriness of fame. And he is the poet of contemporary society, keen to discern the false and the corrupt, courageous in denunciation yet with pity for the young and innocent⠦ As a poet he mirrored brilliantly and without distortion an absorbingly interesting world" (Baugh, 1229).

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Early Edition. Set of 17 volumes in handsome full-leather19th century bindings, gilt and rebound with minor sunning, scuffed joints and the occasional rubbed edge. Early edition. All edges gilt. Former owner's bookplate inside covers and faint overprinting from the plates, but o/w clean. Contains frontis etchings and 202 plates, (iii) p286 mispagnated as 284, (vi) extra plate p224, (viii) missing plate p199, (xiv) extra plate p295. Contains handwritten listings of all the plates at the rear of each volume, suspected to be by the binder as the plates have been trimmed. Published only 8 years after his death, this collection is a magnificent tribute to his life. Each volume feels wonderful in your hand and would be a pleasure to read. Size: 16mo - over 5¾ - 6¾" tall. Book.

Silver. Condition: Good. A silver metal wax seal bearing the coat of arms of the Byron family motto "Crede Byron". Two horses flank a shield with a coronet above. The seal now has a ring on top as presumably it was converted into a pendant. Lord Byron certainly used a similar seal e.g. "red wax seal impressed with Byron's coat of arms surmounted by a coronet; postmarked MayFair' and addressed to Miss E. Bridget Pigot./ Southwell/Notts'." However I haven't managed to find an image of a seal to compare them to see it is was Lord Byron's or an association item or a souvenir. Book.

Hardback. Condition: Good. None (illustrator). A sought after set of Lord Byron's epic poem, this set including the first editions of Cantos VI to XVI. Lord Byron's complete 'Don Juan', in the publisher's original paper boards. This set including the first editions of Cantos VI to XVI.Volume I, Cantos I. and II., published by Thomas Davison in 1823, the first octavo edition. Originally published in a large paper format in 1819. Half-title is presentVolume II, Cantos III., IV., and V, the fifth edition published by Thomas Davison in 1822. Half-title is present.Volume III, Cantos VI., VII., and VIII., the first edition, published by John Hunt in 1823. Issued without a half-title. Two pages of adverts to the rear, dated July 1823.Volume IV, Cantos IX., X., and XI., the first edition, published by John Hunt in 1823. Issued without a half-title. Four pages of adverts to the rear, dated September 1823.Volume V, Cantos XII., XIII., and XIV., the first edition, published by John Hunt in 1823. Issued without a half-title. Two pages of adverts to the rear, dated December 1823.Volume VI, Cantos XV. and XVI., the first edition, published by John Hunt in 1824. Issued without a half-title. Including 'errors of the press' note to the rear, and four pages of notes to the rear. Two pages of adverts to the rear, dated March 1824, erratum slip bound in to the rear.Collated, complete.'Don Juan' is Lord Byron's satirical epic poem, an important feat of Romantic poetry. Byron portrays Don Juan as a man easily seduced by women, rather than a womaniser. The character, but not the plot, is taken from the legendary Spanish libertine figure.Byron's poem is written in ottava rima across sixteen cantos. Upon the publication of the first cantos in 1819 the poem was criticized as immoral. In the original publisher's paper covered boards Externally, worn, with lifting of paper and loss to the spines. Light bumping to the extremities and to the head and tail of the spines. Spines are a little discoloured. Light rubbing and only a few minor marks to the boards and spines. Surface cracks to the spines. Tail of the spine of Volume V is lifting. Rear hinge of Volume I, IV, V, and VI are starting but firm. Hinges of Volume II are starting but firm. Internally, firmly bound, Volume VI is generally firmly bound. Pages are generally bright and clean with scattered spots, heavier to the endpapers and to the first and last few pages. Good. book.

hardcover. Condition: near fine. Four 19th century titles bound together in modern full brown calf; gilt-ruled and lettered spine with raised bands and red leather label, reading "The Corsair"; marbled end papers. London: John Murray, 1814, 1816, 1818, 1820. Mixed editions, as below. BYRON, Lord: "The Corsair, A Tale". London: John Murray, 1814. Second issue, lacking ads & half-title. COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor: "Christabel." London: John Murray, 1816. First edition -- the first appearance of this work which is among the best known poetry in the English language; bound with the half-title, but without the ads. LONG, Charles Edward: Imperial and Papal Rome. A Poem, which obtained the Chancellor's Medal at the Cambridge Commencement, July, 1818. THE ETONIAN, Nos. I & II, 162pp. with errata slip. Windsor: Knight & Dredge, October & November, 1820. Second Edition, which reprints the much admired poem "My Brother's Grave", by John Moultrie, not included in the first edition.

FIRST COMPLETE EDITION. 170 x 106 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 1/4"). Edited by John Wright. 17 volumes. HANDSOME 19TH CENTURY PURPLE STRAIGHT-GRAIN MOROCCO, GILT, BY ZAEHNSDORF (ink-stamped on front free endpaper), covers with French fillet border, raised bands, spine compartments with inlaid green morocco oval at center, surrounded by gilt swirls, green morocco labels, turn-ins with plain and decorative gilt rules, top edges gilt. With two facsimiles of letters, one plate, and each volume with engraved frontispiece and engraved title page with vignette. Pastedown of each volume with bookplate of Peggy & Steve Fosset; volume I with pencil ownership signature of Ailsa Bruce dated 1927; most volumes with occasional light pencil markings by a former owner. â Light scattered foxing internally, the leaves with other trivial imperfections, but the text altogether very clean and beautifully preserved; some of the spines with scarcely noticeable fading, a few volumes with a couple of light scratches to covers and insignificant wear to extremities, but A VERY ATTRACTIVE SET with excellent shelf appeal. This is a fine, beautifully bound first edition of Byron's complete works, including his letters and journals, as well as the sympathetic biography written by his friend and literary executor Thomas Moore. DNB admires "the skill with which Moore constructed his portrait" and proclaims his biography "indispensable for students of Byron." (The memoir Byron had entrusted to Moore for publication after his death was determined to be too scandalous to see print and was burned in the presence of Lady Byron and others.) Day notes "the vigor and movement in Byron's letters, a compelling rhythmic prose that sweeps and punches. The man becomes blazingly alive in these incisive and driving letters." And of course, our set contains all of his ground-breaking poetry, the most famous in English after Shakespeare. As Day observed, "he gripped the soul of Western society as no other literary man ever has." John Murray paid £15,000 for the poet's copyrights, and Byron editions became a staple of the firm's output for a considerable number of years. Born in Pest, Hungary, Joseph Zaehnsdorf (1816-86) served his apprenticeship in Stuttgart, worked at a number of European locations as a journeyman, and then settled in London, where he was hired first by Westley and then by Mackenzie before opening his own workshop in 1842. His son and namesake took over the business at 33, when the senior Joseph died, and the firm flourished under the son's leadership, becoming a leading West End bindery. Over the years, Zaehnsdorf employed a considerable number of distinguished binders, including the Frenchman Louis Genth (who was chief finisher from 1859-84), and trained a number of others, including Roger de Coverly and Sarah Prideaux. A family-run business until 1947, the Zaehnsdorf bindery continued to produce consistently attractive, tasteful, and innovative designs executed with unfailing skill.

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. 8vo., 7 separate works by Byron bound together in one, rather worn in later half calf binding. Poems (with) The Bride of Abydos (lacking title page) (and) The Corsair (same imprint), 1814 (and) The Siege of Corinth (and) Parisina (same imprint), 1816 (and) The Lament of Tasso (same imprint), 1817 (and) Manfred (same imprint), 1817 (and) Monody on the Death of Sheridan (same imprint), 1816 Except for the Lament of Tasso, and possibly the Bride of Abydos, all works are first editions. The Poems and Corsair are in first issue, Monody, the second. The Monody on the Death of Sheridan is particularly uncommon. This volume is not for the discriminate book collector, but for a student of literature or the specialised library to complete its collections.

Condition: Good. First Small Paper Edition. Six volumes bound in three : (2, blanks) (iv) 227; (iv) 222 (6, colophon & blanks); (4, blanks) x, 184 (2, advertisements); 151 (3, colophon & blanks); (4, blanks) 170; 130 (4, blanks) : marbled endpapers : a.e. marbled : full brown leather : double gilt ruled borders surrounding decorative blind border on boards : gilt lettering to dark brown title and volume panels, gilt borders and decorations to other panels : gilt dentelles. Moderate shelf wear and rubbing to leather; very minor to minor splitting at joints except for 2cm split at crown to lower board of volume one; 3.5cm indent to lower board of same; water stain to final few leaves of volume one, otherwise only occasional soiling and foxing. Early printings of the first two volumes and the rest being first printings of the small paper edition that according to Randolph is scarcer today than the large paper format. [WISE, Byron II, pp.3-8; RANDOLPH, pp. 82-92] Cantos I-II: Thomas Davison, 1823 (First published 1819) Cantos III, IV, V: Thomas Davison, 1822 (Stated Fifth Edition, Revised and Corrected) Cantos VI, VII, VIII: John Hunt, 1823 (with two pages of Advertisements dated July 1823 at the end of Canto VIII) Cantos IX, X, XI: John Hunt, 1823 Cantos XII, XIII, XIV: John Hunt, 1823 (Paper watermarked Whatman Turkey Mills 1823) Cantos XV, XVI: John Hunt and H.L. Hunt, 1824 (Paper watermarked Whatman Turkey Mills 1824).

Second extant edition of Don Leon, an early English defense of homosexuality purported to be a lost poem by Lord Byron. At least partially composed after Byron's death, likely in the 1830s, a version of the poem was in print before 1853, when it is cited in Notes and Queries. No example of that first printing survives. The first extant edition is William Dugdale's London edition of 1866, printed in an unsuccessful attempt to blackmail Byron's family. This piracy, printed by Charles Carrington around 1890, is a facsimile of the Dugdale, distinguishable by the "rare editions" advertised on the verso of the jacket, which include a translation of the Satyricon spuriously attributed to Oscar Wilde. While Byron is not the author (or at least the sole author) of Don Leon, his sexual history provides the pretext for the poem's argument for tolerance of homosexuality: "Methought there must be yet some people found, / Where Cupid's wings were free, his hands unbound / Where law had no erotic statutes framed, / Nor gibbets stood to fright the unreclaimed." The rumor that Byron sodomized his pregnant wife, Annabella Milbanke, leading to the dissolution of their marriage, is duly recapped: "Ah, fatal hour, that saw my prayer succeed, / And my fond bride enact the Ganymede." The true author or authors are well-versed in early nineteenth-century parliamentary debates over the punishment of vice; as Louis Crompton notes: "The poem is in fact a rhymed pamphlet in favor of homosexual law reform that incorporates a pseudoautobiography and erotic jeux d'esprit." Speculation as to the authorship of Don Leon has included George Colman, John Cam Hobhouse, Thomas Love Peacock, William Beckford, and William Bankes. The poem would be reprinted by the Fortune Press in 1934, in a limited edition immediately suppressed for obscenity. For more on Don Leon, see Louis Crompton, "Don Leon, Byron, and Homosexual Law Reform" in Literary Visions of Homosexuality, ed. Stuart Kellogg (1983), and the critical apparatus to the Pagan Press facsimile edition (2017). OCLC locates five holdings of this Carrington piracy worldwide (British Library, Morgan, Cornell, Penn, and Minnesota), although there are almost certainly more copies miscatalogued as the 1866 edition it purports to be. A near-fine copy of a true rarity, a fascinating early effort to overturn the criminalization of homosexual acts in England by way of Byron's Romantic legacy. Octavo, measuring 7.5 x 5 inches: [4], 52, 63, [3], 17, [1]. Original plain wrappers, printed dust jacket, untrimmed. Separate title page, dated 1865, for "Leon to Annabella." Rubbing to spine ends, light edgewear to jacket.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine, handsomely bound. First Edition. Two volumes (4" x 6-1/2") bound in recent half brown morocco with matching corners retaining the original marbled boards, all edges marbled. Leaf B8 (pages 31-32) lacking in first volume, as usual; C3 in second volume in uncancelled state, with word "wicked" present on page 37, line 9. [Tinker 1953; Wise, Coleridge, 15]. Contributions by Samuel T. Coleridge (27 poems, some previously unpublished), Poet Laureate Robert Southey, Charles Lamb, Robert Lovell, Humphry Davy, Amelia Opie, and others. Pages 31-32 contained Southey's "War Poem," but were canceled in all but two known copies as the poem was considered unpatriotic. A third volume was advertised but never published. A remarkable and important collection of early Romantic poetry, here in unusually nice condition.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First Edition, first issue. (Correct watermark and all textual points mentioned by Randolph, Studies for Byron Bibliography.) xiii + errata page, 187 pp. Modern brown quarter calf period style, marbled paper sides, red morocco label with gilt rules, decorations, and lettering. Half-title present. Very Good with light occasional foxing.The first appearance of the book that brought young Lord Byron into the public eye, dismissed though it was by the Edinburgh Review as unremarkable juvenile verse, "effusions . spread over a dead flat," declaring to its readers "See how a minor can write!" Byron would indeed show them. He responded with his first satire English Bards and Scotch Reviewers in 1809.

First edition. 8vo. vi, 54 pp., with half-title. Full red morocco, gilt interlacing strapwork design on covers and spine, top edge gilt, rest uncut, original printed paper covers removed from boards, backed and bound in, green watered silk doublures endpapers, by Zaehnsdorf (stamped on front turn-in and dated 1898, exhibition blind stamp on rear doublure); rebacked with spine laid-down and some loss to lettering, paper covers spotted, old mildew spot on several margins The Frank Hogan copy of the first edition of Byron's satiric response to Henry Brougham's negative review of Hours of Idleness in the Edinburgh Review. Byron also take aim at the journal's editor, Francis Jeffrey, along with many of his contemporaries Coleridge, Southey, Scott, and Wordsworth included. Byron later recanted some of his criticism, writing in an annotated copy of the 1811 fourth edition, "The greater part of this is satire I most sincerely wish had never been written not only on account of the injustice of much of the criticism & the personal part of it but the tone & temper are such as I cannot approve. Byron July 14th 1816. Diodati Geneva" (see First Edition Club Byron exhibition no. 4b, lent by John Murray). With "E & P 1805" watermark on B3, D1 and F1 subsequent editions have later watermarks and with B3 in first state, line 7 reading "Despetch." A tall uncut copy in a Zaehnsdorf exhibition binding preserving the original printed paper board covers.PROVENANCE: Frank Hogan (red morocco book-plate, his sale Parke-Bernet, 1945); J.O. Edwards (book-label)REFERENCES: Hayward 291; Randolph, pp. 14-18; Wise, I, 21.

Full Calf. Condition: Near Fine. First Edition, First Issue. With all first issue points, and errata. 8vo. 18.5 by 11.5 cm. xiii, [1], 187 pp. Modern full calf binding sympathetic to period binding,with gilt decoration on spine and boards, marbled endpapers. Condition: early leaves have light foxing, after which, occasional light foxing and soiling, but overall, we would consider this a clean and fresh copy.

FIRST EDTION, FIRST ISSUE. 2 blank leaves + TP + [v]-x = Preface + [xi]-xiii = Contents + [xiv] = Errata + [1]-187 + 2 blank leaves, Crown Octavo. First Edition, First Issue. Wise Vol. 1, p. 7.The first printing of Byron's first regularly published book, his 'juvenilia' rearranged from the privately-printed Fugitive Pieces and Poems of Various Occasions. It omits twenty of the original poems and adds twelve new ones. The first edition may be distinguished from the deceptive 'large-paper' demy-octavo reprint (also the work of the ubiquitous Ridges) by the two typographical errors on p. 114, l. 4 ("thnnder") and p. 181, l. 21 ("Thc") and sometimes (but not always) by the correct numbering of p. 171 as here. A further defining point of the first edition (and the one which established the priority of this issue) is also present: the cancellation of D3 (p. 22) with the correct reading in the second line of the poem: "Those tissues of falsehood which Folly has wove" and no footnote. Watermarked "Li" and "1806" as called for. Without the half-title. Lovely 19th-century full calf binding with gilt borders to front and back covers. Spine with five bands and ornately gilt compartments. Red morocco label on spine. Turquoise blue endpapers and all edges gilt. A lovely copy of Byron's first regularly published book. PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

Paris, chez Ladvocat pour les uvres et chez Pillet Ainé, Charles Gosselin pour les Conversations, 1819 à 1821, EDITION ORIGINALE en français et 1825 (pour les conversations), EDITION ORIGINALE en français, 12 tomes en 6 vol. in-12, reliures identiques en demi-veau brun cognac, plats papier "cailloux" multicolor, fleurons à froid, triples filets, guirlandes, 2 pièces de titre en maroquin orange avec auteur - tomaisons et titres dorés sur dos lisse, tranches marbrées, reliure d'époque, XVI - 240 - 251 - (1) - 240 - 246 - 235 - (1) - 263 - (1) - 284 - 211 - (1) - 240 - 236 - XX - 288 - (1) - 273 pp., 3 pp. de catalogue d'éditeur, frontispice de Byron d'après le buste de Bertolini et un fac-similé dépliable d'une lettre de Byron, table des matières dans le volume des Conversations, traduction par Amédée Pichot pour les uvres et de Amédée Davesiès de Pontes pour les Conversations, SUPERBE ensemble de douze tomes et six volumes en reliure d'époque de l' uvre de l'incarnation même du génie poétique romantique anglais, Lord Byron, 6e baron (1788 - 1824). La traduction de l' uvre serait de Amédée Pichot (1795 - 1877), érudit et très grand linguiste qui donne ici une traduction très "moderne" par le soin qu'elle a de suivre le texte ! Celle-ci restera son "chef-d' uvre" ! Les Conversations sont recueillies par Thomas Medwin (1788 - 1869), cousin et biographe de Shelley, militaire au 24e Régiment de Dragons. Très beau portrait de Byron d'après un buste de Bertolini. D'une Grande RARETE ! Très bon état des reliures et du papier; quelques très petites rousseurs éparses.

A very handsome set of Byron's collected works, including his letters and journals, and Moore's biography of the poet. 17 volumes, octavo (163 x 100 mm). Contemporary green morocco, spines lettered in gilt, gilt in compartments, gilt borders and turn-ins, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. With engraved frontispieces and vignette title pages. Spines lightly sunned, minor browning to plates and sporadic very light foxing; a superb set.