The Farmer's Boy: A Rural Poem

Robert Bloomfield

Published by Vernor and Hood, London, 1803

About this Item

The landmark poem by the lower labor class poet that took Europe by storm. The success of The Farmer's Boy was remarkable, over 25,000 copies being sold in the next two years after its first edition of 1800. It was also reprinted in several American editions, appeared in German translation in Leipzig, in French as Le Valet du Fermier in Paris, and in Italian translation in Milan. Condition: Good BOOK INFO Published in 1803 by Vernor and Hood in London. 7th edition. (What would be considered a 7th printing in modern terms. The poem was first published in 1800.) Bound in contemporary full leather with gilding on the spine and board edges. Blind-stamped leather turn-ins. Duodecimo, 6 3/8" x 4". Collated and complete: lii, [2], 104 pp. Chapter vignette headers, 4 plates (one for each season). ABOUT THE POET Robert Bloomfield(December 1766 ? August 1823) was anEnglishlaboring-class poet whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers.The poem that made his reputation, The Farmer's Boy was influenced by James Thomson's poem The Seasons. Bloomfield was able to carry in his head some fifty to a hundred finished lines of it at a time, until an opportunity arose to write them down. The manuscript was declined by several publishers and was eventually shown by his brother George to Capel Lofft, a radical Suffolk squire of literary tastes, who arranged for its publication with woodcuts by Thomas Bewick in 1800.Bloomfield's reputation was increased by the appearance of his Rural Tales (1802), several poems of which were set to music by his brother Isaac. Another of them, "The Miller's Maid", was turned into an opera in 1804 by John Davy (1763?1824) and formed the basis for a two-act melodrama by John Faucit Saville in 1821. CONDITION REPORT Good. Binding holding firm, cracking to foot of rear joint. Front hinge cracking. Rubbed and worn leather. Most of the gilt has faded away. Spine sunned and dulled. Corners bumped and worn. Some chipping to leather at crown of spine. Toned and dusty endpapers. Former owner name inscribed on front pastedown. Pages are lightly toned. Signs of handling like smudges, creases and some bent corners. Some occasional light foxing, mostly near the plates. Some feathered margins. Offsetting from illustrations. .

Seller Inventory # 316

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Farmer's Boy: A Rural Poem
• Publisher: Vernor and Hood, London
• Publication Date: 1803
• Binding: Contemporary full calf
• Edition: seventh edition.
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • Antique (1800-1920s)