Die Walküre [Walkyrie] of Richard Wagner. Rendered into English. ***Presentation copy from Harry Buxton Forman to William Morris***

Wagner, Richard; Forman, Alfred W. (trans); Morris, William (his copy)

Published by Printed For Private Distribution, London, 1873

About this Item

Hard cover, 8vo ( measuring 5 1/2 x 8 3/5 inches), in quarter tan cloth over blue paper-covered boards, re-inforced at the joints, possibly, with a vellum strip, the spine with a printed paper title label, plain cream endpapers. [Alternative title spelling given in page headers.] Collation: [6] 1-61, [3]pp. First edition in English.**CONDITION: Very Good. Exterior of boards show moderate soiling and edge wear. Hinges in order. End papers browned. Very light foxing to prelims at margins, and along all outer edges of text block. Pages are moderately age toned, generally clean. Presentation inscription: " William Morris, Esq. /from H. Buxton Forman" (undated) in old ink to prelim. page.**Morris wrote to Forman thanking him for the book (Collected Letters of William Morris, Vol 1, No. 216). Kelvin records his actual thank you letter for the book in 1873 (as No. 216 in Collected Letters of William Morris, Vol. I) which reads in part: "nor am I much interested in anything Wagner does - his theories on musical matters seem to me as an artist and non-musical man perfectly abhominable (sic): besides I look upon it as nothing short of desecration to bring such a tremendous and world-wide subject under the gaslights of the opera: a most rococo and degraded of all forms of art. I wish to see Wagner uprooted" ( Letters, Vol. I, p. 205) ** HENRY BUXTON FORMAN (1842-1917) , brother of this book's translator, was one-half of the most notorious British book forging partnerships in modern times, with Thomas J. Wise. The relationship between Harry Buxton Forman and William Morris is a fascinating yet convoluted tale. Forman was in initially a bureaucrat at the Royal Mail, then "a failed poet," and an obsessive collector of books and bibliographic detail, which he parlayed into a second career as a contributor of literary criticism and editorial services to some of the big-name authors of the day, including John Keats and Percey Shelley. His articles for Tinsley's Magazine, entitled "Our Living Poets" brought him to the notice of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and others of the Pre-Raphaelite circle whom he had written about. Forman did have a legitimate working relationship with Morris, as described by biographer John Collins in his book, The Two Forgers (1992): "William Morris was clearly a specialty, as Swineburne was of Wise. Forman had been on nodding, if not intimate, terms with William Morris for some twenty-five years: he was known as a keen and punctilious collector of his works, and as a useful literary type who could safely be entrusted with a set of proofs to read. He certainly admired Morris greatly, so it was in the natural course of things that he would write the standard bibliography and forge the productions of his hero." (p. 132) It is estimated that up to ten percent of the pamphlets and other shorter works listed in The Books of William Morris, edited by H. Buxton Forman (1897) were, in fact, forged or pirated, which the book then "authenticated". OCLC 753144914. RARE--only three copies shown in libraries in the U.S and Britain. Inscribed to William Morris from H. Buxton Forman (translator's brother).

Seller Inventory # 7032

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Die Walküre [Walkyrie] of Richard Wagner. Rendered into English. ***Presentation copy from Harry Buxton Forman to William Morris***
• Publisher: Printed For Private Distribution, London
• Publication Date: 1873
• Binding: Hard Cover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art - British Arts and Crafts Movement
  • RARE BOOKS