THE LIFE OF JOHN KEATS (First UK edition - first impression)

First impression of the first UK edition, translated from the French by Marion Robinson. ***Near fine in blue cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. The gilt is still beautifully bright having been protected by the dustwrapper. The boards are clean and unmarked. Head and tail of spine just slightly creased. Corners sharp. No reading lean to the binding, and no reading creases to the spine. Spine tight. Page block edges clean - top edge a bit dusty and darkened. Internally also near fine, with no inscriptions. Pages clean with no internal foxing. Printed on nice quality paper. Some light creasing to a few top corner tips. No other creases or tears. ***In a very good printed dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of 7s. 6d. net. The dustwrapper is virtually complete, with no major faults - just some slight loss at the top and tail of the spine and with some rubbing and creasing at the extremities, with very small chips to the top edge of the back panel. No other chips or serious tears and no fading. Spine of dustwrapper lightly browned. ***272 pages, including the Preface and a couple of pages of Notes at the back of the book. 198mm x 135mm. ***'John Keats (31 October 1795 - 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculosis at the age of 25. They were indifferently received in his lifetime, but his fame grew rapidly after his death. By the end of the century, he was placed in the canon of English literature, strongly influencing many writers of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; the Encyclopædia Britannica of 1888 called one ode "one of the final masterpieces."' (Wiki) ***'That the widespread interest taken in Keats in England to-day, a hundred years after his death, is not a local phenomenon, is shown by this life of the poet, written by a Frenchman, himself a poet, in order to introduce to his countrymen one whom he regards as a vital force in literature. ---In showing us this most English of our poets through the eyes of a Frenchman, he contrives to give us a fresh view of him; the lights and shadows fall in other places, and we notice significations which, by their very familiarity, had passed unnoticed, until the shifting of the lamp threw them into relief.' (Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper) ****A first impression of the first UK edition of this study of the life of John Keats, in very good condition, and in the seldom found original dustwrapper. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.…