Beschreibung:

ARNOLD, Matthew (1822-1888)]. The Strayed Reveller and Other Poems by A . London: B. Fellowes, 1849. 8° (175 x 102mm). (Occasional light thumb-soiling.) Uncut in original dark green ribbed cloth, gilt-lettered spine, yellow endpapers (inner hinges slightly split), morocco-backed green cloth case. Provenance : 'John Hammond from James Pugh' (contemporary inscription on half title; bookplate of J.L. Hammond). FIRST EDITION OF ARNOLD'S FIRST COLLECTION OF VERSE. Fellowes had been his father's old publisher. The title poem was based on an episode in the Odyssey and strongly influenced by Heinrich Heine. The 27 poems also included 'The New Sirens,' 'The Forsaken Merman,' and 'Resignation.' 500 copies were printed. Ashley I, p. 9; Hayward 256; Smart p. 2: 'exceedingly scarce.' [ARNOLD, Matthew]. Empedocles on Etna and Other Poems by A . London: B. Fellowes, 1852. 8° (172 x 102mm). (Occasional light thumb-soiling.) Uncut in original dark green ribbed cloth, gilt-lettered spine, yellow endpapers, morocco-backed green cloth case. PRESENTATION COPY (front free endpaper inscribed 'From the Author' in Arnold's hand). FIRST EDITION of Arnold's second collection of verse. In the dramatic poem of the title, Arnold strongly identified with the ennui of Empedocles, the fifth-century B.C. Sicilian philosopher who lacked 'the religious consolation of other men' yet saw 'things as they are -- the world as it is.' In addition to 'Empedocles' and 'Tristram and Iseult,' the volume contains 33 shorter poems, including 'Lines written in Kensington Gardens' and 'The Buried Life.' 500 copies were printed, but Arnold claimed that he was only able to sell 50. He was diffident about his poetry, and even in copies sent to friends preserved the notion of anonymity by inscribing them 'From the author.' Ashley I, p. 9; Smart p. 3: 'very scarce.' (2)