- 139
Wordsworth, William
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- An Evening Walk: An Epistle in Verse, Addressed to a Young Lady from the Lakes of the North of England. London: for J. Johnson, 1793
- Paper, ink, leather
4to (206 x 201 mm). With the errata-leaf. Brown levant, turn-ins and all edges gilt, brown levant slipcase, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.
First edition of Wordsworth's first book, published at the age of 23; his Descriptive Sketches, advertised on the last page as "just published," was in fact printed slightly later the same year. This poem in heroic couplets about the Lake District was addressed to his sister Dorothy. The meter and diction are old-fashioned, in the school of Alexander Pope, but the descriptions of natural scenery, made on the spot during a school vacation, contain premonitions of a new school of English poetry. Wordsworth did not, however, allow this poem to be reprinted in its original form.
Writing in 1927, Wise describes this quarto as "an extremely rare book," and adds, "I doubt whether more than seven or eight examples -- exclusive of two imperfect copies which I have seen -- could be recorded today." This copy is the only one to appear auction since 1983, when the somewhat soiled Britwell copy, in the collection of Frederick Dannay ("Ellery Queen") was sold to Quaritch. Prior to that, a copy from the Signet Library, bound with Descriptive Sketches, was sold to Dawson's of Pall Mall in 1979 for £6500 ($13,195), and the Borowitz copy, wrinkled and soiled, with new stitching, was sold in 1977 to Fleming for $7000. During this period two other copies have apparently surfaced in the trade.
First edition of Wordsworth's first book, published at the age of 23; his Descriptive Sketches, advertised on the last page as "just published," was in fact printed slightly later the same year. This poem in heroic couplets about the Lake District was addressed to his sister Dorothy. The meter and diction are old-fashioned, in the school of Alexander Pope, but the descriptions of natural scenery, made on the spot during a school vacation, contain premonitions of a new school of English poetry. Wordsworth did not, however, allow this poem to be reprinted in its original form.
Writing in 1927, Wise describes this quarto as "an extremely rare book," and adds, "I doubt whether more than seven or eight examples -- exclusive of two imperfect copies which I have seen -- could be recorded today." This copy is the only one to appear auction since 1983, when the somewhat soiled Britwell copy, in the collection of Frederick Dannay ("Ellery Queen") was sold to Quaritch. Prior to that, a copy from the Signet Library, bound with Descriptive Sketches, was sold to Dawson's of Pall Mall in 1979 for £6500 ($13,195), and the Borowitz copy, wrinkled and soiled, with new stitching, was sold in 1977 to Fleming for $7000. During this period two other copies have apparently surfaced in the trade.
Provenance
J.O. Edwards (bookplate); sale in our London rooms, 17 July 2008, lot 152; H Bradley Martin, his sale, Sotheby's New York, May 1, 1990, lot 3331; (bookplate); Sale in our London rooms, 8-9 April 1968, lot 297 (purchased by Seven Gables).
Literature
Ashley 8:1-2; Cornell/Healey 1; Hayward 201; Rothschild 2601; Wise 1