The Rare First Published Work (Issued at 14) of "the Most Considerable" Romantic Female Poet, Offered in Original Boards

POEMS, BY FELICIA DOROTHEA BROWNE.

HEMANS, FELICIA DOROTHEA BROWNE.

(Liverpool and London: Printed by G. F. Harris for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1808). 285 x 226 mm. (11 1/4 x 9"). xxvii, [1], 111, [1] (blank) pp. Complete with half-title. FIRST EDITION.

PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BLUE BOARDS, flat spine with original printed paper label, EDGES UNTRIMMED. Large wood-engraved vignette by G. Cuitt on title page, 10 headpiece ornaments and one tailpiece. Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of William Garnett. A Large Paper Copy. Minor soiling and chafing to boards, corners rather mashed, leaves a shade less than bright, with tiny dots of foxing, trivial smudging, and some corner creases, but still an excellent, copy--the text fresh and printed within enormous margins, and the unsophisticated binding entirely sound and an immensely appealing survival.

This is the rarely seen first work of a writer described by DNB as "the most considerable woman poet of the Romantic period," offered here in remarkably well-preserved publisher's boards. Felicia Browne Hemans (1793-1835) published 20 volumes during her fruitful career, along with being a regular contributor to several magazines and periodicals. The present work is distinguished by being issued when she was only 14 years old. Her poems had garnered the attention of lawyer and abolitionist William Roscoe (1753-1831), who arranged for the book's publication. Subscribers included Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Thomas Medwin, who showed the work to Percy Shelley. Intrigued by the book--and apparently by reports of the young writer's beauty--Shelley attempted to correspond with her, only to be firmly thwarted by her mother. Our copy is from the collection of William Garnett (1818-73), a Lancashire landowner and MP. He evidently treated his books with great care; the fragile unsophisticated boards here are minimally worn, and the margins occupy more space than the text. "Poems" comes to market fairly infrequently: we could trace just two copies at auction since 1983. (ST20782)

Price: $1,250.00