Keats, John.

12mo, first edition, one of 500 copies, half-title, without advertisements at the end present in some copies, contemporary smooth calf gilt, spine in six compartments, black morocco labels, marbled edges, slight wear to edges of binding

Viscount Mersey of Bignor Park, bookplate; John Hayward, his copy exhibited at the National Book League in 1951, bookplate

Hayward 233; Ashley 315; Grolier English 167; Tinker 1420

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

a near fine copy in a contemporary binding, the john hayward copy of keats' last and greatest collection of poems, containing the celebrated sequence of Odes ("...to a Nightingale", "....on a Grecian Urn", "...to Psyche", and "...on Melancholy". All the poems were written in 1819. Keats died of tuberculosis in Rome in February 1821.

"The more I read it, the more disposed am I to think this book to be, of all the world's books, upon the whole the most marvellous...It was finished before Keats had completed his twenty-fifth year; and there is nothing in it which is not, in its kind, a masterpiece" (Keats' editor H.W. Garrod, Oxford University Press edition, 1939).