Keats, John

8vo, FIRST EDITION, later issue, half-title with imprint on verso "Printed by T. Miller, Printer, Noble street, Cheapside", five line errata on p.[xi], sectional titles, full blue green morocco by Riviere & Son, spine gilt in 6 compartments, gilt dentelles, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, collector's green morocco and cloth slipcase, occasional slight spotting, small area of rubbing to head of spine near joint with upper board, 

Ashley Library III, p.13; Hayward 232; MacGillivray A2

Endymion, dedicated to the memory of the poet Thomas Chatterton, was written when Keats was only 21 years old and determined to test his abilities as a poet. Keats composed the epic poem over six months, beginning in April 1817, a task possibly conceived in rivalry with Shelley, who was engaged in writing Laon and Cythna during the same period.

At some stage after the publication of the first issue, the outer double-leaf of the first gathering was cancelled. As here, the replacement half-title bears a slightly amended imprint on the verso (reading "T. Miller, Printer, Noble Street..." rather than simply "T. Miller, Noble Street...") which differentiates the two issues. The often cited issue point regarding the errata leaf (first issue copies apparently listing only the single amendment to p.108) is dismissed by Hayward, who cites a letter from Keats "from which it is clear that both the one-line erratum and the five-line errata were printed off before the book was published".