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LIFE OF WILLIAM CONGREVE.
(London: Walter Scott, 1888). 172 x 117 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 1/2"). 192, ix [1] pp., [3] leaves (ads). FIRST EDITION.
Light olive green publisher's cloth, the front cover double ruled in navy blue and stamped with the title and author, the smooth spine with navy blue lettering and a quill (rear pastedown perhaps replaced). INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR on front free endpaper: "Coventry Patmore, with the affectionate regards of its author," dated July 28, 1888. Hugh Walpole's Brackenburn ex-libris on the front pastedown. ◆Spine ends slightly pushed in, the boards with extremely minor soiling in a few places, the endpapers and adjacent pages a bit foxed, but a very fine copy, very fresh and clean internally and in a neat and tasteful binding.
This inscribed first edition links four of Britain’s esteemed writers. Poet and literary scholar Sir Edmund Gosse (1849-1928) composed this life of William Congreve (1670-1729) as his contribution to the “Great Writers” series. Although he never attended university, Gosse began his career as assistant librarian at the British Museum; from 1884 to 1890, he lectured in English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge; and in the former year, his successful lecture tour in America earned him considerable fame. His "Congreve" was the first comprehensive biography written on this highly important dramatist, despite the popularity he achieved during the Restoration and ever afterwards. Our volume is inscribed by Gosse to fellow poet and critic Coventry Patmore (1823-96), whose works, like Gosse’s, had a distinct, if often overlooked, impact on Victorian literature. Patmore, who also worked for the British Museum, came to public attention with his narrative poem "The Angel in the House," which laid out the notions of an ideal marriage. This copy additionally bears the ex-libris of novelist and book collector Hugh Walpole (1884-1941), whose Brackenburn Library was well known. All told, this piece of literary history represents friendships and authorial respect across four centuries. (ST19567-109)
Price: $750.00