Wordsworth, William.

12mo (156 x 96mm.), first edition, presentation copy from the author to Francis Wrangham, inscribed in the hand of the recipient on the title page ("Francis Wrangham 1807. | From the author"), half-title in volume 1, errata leaf at the end of volume 1, nineteenth-century mottled calf gilt, rebacked and covers partially restored, minor browning

Mansfield Parkyns and his wife Emma Louise, typed note signed by their daughter Mary Anunziata affixed to front endpaper of volume 1, recording its loan to Woodborough village library (library stamp on upper paste-down)

The explorer Mansfield Parkyns (1823--1894), sometime friend of Richard Moncton Milnes, travelled in Africa and the Middle East from 1842 to 1849. His Life in Abyssinia was published in 1853. He married Emma Louise Bethel in 1854, and they subsequently settled at his estate at Woodborough Hall, Nottinghamshire.

Wise 8; Tinker 2334; Healey 19

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."

Presented by Wordsworth to his lifelong friend and correspondent, and fellow radical of his early years, Francis Wrangham.

The writer, liberal clergyman and book collector Francis Wrangham (1769-1769), the son of a Yorkshire farmer, took honours at Cambridge and, having possibly been cheated of a divinity fellowship owing to his perceived radicalism, became rector of Hunmanby in the East Riding in 1795. It was during the 1790s that Wrangham and Wordsworth first met, as fellow members of the circle of the political thinker William Godwin. A notable abolitionist (his first daughter married the son of William Wilberforce) Wrangham also supported the education of women, Catholic rights, charity schools and other progressive ideas.  His first book of poems, intended to be published in 1795 but only appearing in 1802, contained a translation of one of his Latin poems by Coleridge, and one from the French by Wordsworth. He and Wordsworth were active correspondents, and for a while they collaborated on a planned joint book of satirical poems, based on Juvenal (never realized). In a letter to Wordsworth of 15 February 1819 Wrangham estimated that his library contained in excess of "14 volumes and about as many Tracts collected in about one tenth of the number of volumes" (quoted by Oxford DNB). The pamphlets were donated to Trinity in 1842; the bulk of the library was auctioned by Leigh Sotheby in London in two sales in July and November/December 1843, in a total of 5,758 lots.