Italy, a Poem

Rogers, Samuel

Published by Edward Moxon, London, 1842

About this Item

vii, 320 pages. 207 x 145 mm. Previous owner's bookplate on inside of back board, bookplate on front pastedown. Extremities a bit rubbed; minor foxing. Bound in full publisher's hard grain dark green morocco by Hayday (so stamped) (In an exhibition at Bryn Mawn College, entitled "It's the Ticket: Nineteenth-Century Bookbinding in the British Isles and the United States" there appears the following statement: "One of the most prominent bindings from the 1840s is by the highly original and innovative binder James Hayday of London." ) Central gilt vignettes, gilt-titled spines, gilt edges, elaborately gilded Highly gilt-decorative dark green full morocco fine binding. Inside gilt stamped dentelles. Ribbed spine. Spine has gilt lettering and decorations, and five raised bands. Title to spine gilt, Etruscan vase device to boards gilt, five raised bands, all edges gilt. Frontispiece portrait of Samuel Rogers Originally published in 1822-1828, here revised and issued in its most handsome form. Illustrated throughout with engravings from Finde, Stothard and J.M.W. Turner. 50 poems about Italian vicinities including Lake Geneva, Venice, Florence, the Alps, Amalfi, Genoa. Copious notes at the end. Originally published 1822-1828, here issued revised. slight occasional foxing but generally excellent copy. Ray notes that this book caught the fancy of a young John Ruskin and determined the main tenor of my life. The delicate and graceful vignettes, which are miracles of fine detail and seem to float upon the page. Generally considered to be the most desirable printing of the author's best known poem. The illustrations are little jewels. The delicate and graceful vignettes, which are miracles of fine detail, seem fairly to float upon the page." (Ray) NCBEL III 181. Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England from 1790 to 1914, 13. Hodnett p. 141. Rogers, a friend of many of the great Romantic poets, was offered, but declined, laureateship in 1850, to succeed Wordsworth as Poet Laureate. This book produced a great and productive artistic relationship, as it introduced the young John Ruskin to the work of Turner, who he would go on to champion with such eloquence.

Seller Inventory # 003770

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Italy, a Poem
• Publisher: Edward Moxon, London
• Publication Date: 1842
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Dustjacket, as Issued