Table Talk, and Other Poems

William Cowper of the Inner Temple

Published by John Sharpe, London, 1825

About this Item

1825 on both the title and copyright page. This book is in very nice shape. You can see the covers in the photos. The front has some mild and smooth rubbing. There is a line of scuffing on both sides of the spine. I believe this is Volume II of a three volume set. Curiously there is no reference to the Volume number in the book. I'm getting it from the spine. The gilt has faded away on the lettering of 'Cowper's Poems' on the spine but you can read it fine. Some wear at the bottom edge of the spine has removed parts of the date. The gilt design on the spine is still doing pretty well, as is the gilt bordering of the front and rear. There are also little inlaid designs at their corners. There is a sliver of loss at the spine's top edge. The six edges have gilt running along them. It is shining out at you on most of the two bottom edges, more than half of the middle edges, and only a little bit on the two top edges where there is just a bit of smooth rubbing. Overall the cover edges are in quite nice shape. The corners have only small spots of rub-through, nothing at all dramatic. The page edges have a very nice marbled design. You can see it nicely on the middle and bottom edges. The top edge is little toned, so the design is muted. The book is very solidly bound. There's a very thin space over just a small area of the juncture between the front inside cover and front end paper, but the cover is very solidly bound, it has no give at all. That's the case with the rear cover as well. The juncture between the rear inside cover and rear end paper has no spaces, thin or otherwise. The inside covers and end papers a marbled design. They are all in very nice shape and very clean. There is some kind of inscription or signature on the second front end paper, a blank end paper. It appears to be dated 1835, the '3' is a little squiggly but I'm pretty sure it's a three. 'London' is below it. I'd really like to know whose signature it is, just in case it's somebody famous, but I'm pretty untalented at deciphering signatures. I've provided a photograph and I'm sure you'll let me know if it's somebody famous. The illustrated half-title page is foxed. The title page has only a little bit of mild foxing off its top edge. The next page shows none, and none continues to be the case until you reach the next illustration on page 51, which has toning at its margins. That's the case with all of the illustrations, some with a few spots as well. Each one of the illustrations precedes a poem of the same name. One introduces Cowper's Minor Poems, which is Part II and has its own Contents page. Bottom line: the text pages are in excellent condition, exceptionally clean, reasonably bright, no conspicuous creasing at all, no markings, and no writing of any kind. The illustrations, excepting the margin toning/spotting, are in solid shape, no tears or creases. Finally, there are no attachments of any kind to be found in the book. 'William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him "the best modern poet", whilst William Wordsworth particularly admired his poem Yardley-Oak. After being institutionalized for insanity, Cowper found refuge in a fervent evangelical Christianity. He continued to suffer doubt and, after a dream in 1773, believed that he was doomed to eternal damnation. He recovered and wrote more religious hymns. His religious sentiment and association with John Newton (who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace") led to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered, and to the series of Olney Hymns. His poem "Light Shining out of Darkness" gave English the phrase: "God moves in a mysterious way/ His wonders to perform.". Seller Inventory # 004188

Bibliographic Details

Title: Table Talk, and Other Poems

Publisher: John Sharpe, London

Publication Date: 1825

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good