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THE ROWLEY POEMS.
(London: [Printed at the Ballantyne Press under the supervision of Charles Ricketts], 1898). 238 x 148 mm. (9 3/8 x 5 3/4"). Two volumes. Edited by Robert Steele. ONE OF 210 COPIES ON PAPER (and eight on vellum).
Original boards covered with two patterned papers, printed paper spine label, edges untrimmed. Fine woodcut border on first page of text of each section as well as handsome woodcut initials, all by Charles Ricketts. Tomkinson, p. 166. Corners a bit rubbed, spine ends slightly worn (one spine top with minor snag), but the insubstantial bindings solid and well kept. ESPECIALLY FINE INTERNALLY, unusually bright and fresh.
This is a really excellent copy of a private press edition of a famous literary hoax, produced with Charles Ricketts' usual good taste and attention to detail. The Vale Press books, which Cave says were "far truer to the spirit of fifteenth-century printing than Kelmscott work," included nearly 50 titles issued during the eight-year life of the press, and both Vale's impressive output and considerable artistic success can be attributed to the fact that its founder Ricketts (1866-1931) was in control of every facet of the operation. Tomkinson says that "it is doubtful if, in the history of printing, books have been made which reflect the invention and work of one man more explicitly than do the Vale books." The present item contains the famous forged poems by Chatterton (1752-70), the most precocious of English poets and the heroic martyr of the Romantic Age. Chatterton, who from his youngest years was absorbed by the antiquities of his native Bristol, supplied Thomas Rowley from his imagination as the confessor and gifted poet to William Canynge, the famous mayor of Bristol in the early 15th century. These poems were printed posthumously, after their author, faced with great poverty and disappointment in his attempt to launch a literary career, apparently committed suicide. Vale Press books are generally quite fragile and difficult to find as well preserved as is seen here. (ST20961)
Price: $1,250.00