THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. Complete in one volume.

WORDSWORTH, William.

Published by Paris published by A. and W. Galignani no 18 rue Vivienne. after, 1828

About this Item

Large 8vo in fours, engraved frontispiece (mounted) and pp. xvi, 340; some discolouration of pp. 49-64 and 233-240 (i.e. sigs. 7-8 and 30), perhaps indicating inferior paper stock used for those signatures; neatly bound in 1904 in burgundy half morocco (see below), spine lettered in gilt. Reissue of the first one-volume collective edition of Wordsworth's works. That edition, dated 1828 and published in September of that year, was 'the first unauthorized edition that impinged significantly on sales in Britain' (Reed). It competed directly with the Longman five-volume edition of 1827, whose text it copied. Galignani's advertisements boast that his books were available 'at one third to one eighth of the London prices': in this case the ordinary issue was marketed at 20 francs (approximately 16s), as compared with Longman's price of £2.5s, which was close to three times Galignani's. Although it could not be sold directly in Britain, this edition was easily available and must have affected the sale of Longman's edition. This is the undated reissue, printed on laid paper (the original edition was available on both wove and laid paper). It may have been issued as late as 1835, but Reed confesses that this is 'a question for which there is indeed as yet no answer'. The new title page, besides omitting the date, also leaves out the ornament present on the 1828 title. There was also a large paper issue of the original edition, of which there were only fifty copies printed, which sold at 45 francs (roughly £1.16s), thus costing more than double the ordinary issue and not far short of Longman's price: it is surely a paradox to market a luxury version of an edition designed to undercut the authorised one, although Galignani must have felt he had a market for it. He even sent Wordsworth a copy of the large paper issue as a gift (it was lot 693 in the Wordsworth sale of 1859), which the poet understandably thought 'a poor Compensation for his Piracy', although he did acknowledge its textual accuracy. Reed A40b (p. 88). Provenance. Signature on endpaper of James W.J. Kennedy, bought in 1901; he had it rebound in 1904.

Seller Inventory # 27746

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. Complete in one volume.
• Publisher: Paris published by A. and W. Galignani no 18 rue Vivienne. after
• Publication Date: 1828
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Seller catalogs:
  • Poetry