Three Letters from W. J. Ibbett To His Friend H. Buxton Forman : In Praise of Venus.

Printed wrappers, handmade paper, all edges uncut, small 4to, [6], 42 pp. The three letters are: I The Benignity of Venus in the Vegetable World; II The Rites of Venus; III The Kindness of Venus in the Life and Death of Man. 'Curious poems, couched in the metre of Pope, and conceived in the Lucretian spirit". Buxton Forman's co-forger, Thomas James Wise, sent a copy of the volume to John Henry Wrenn "because their author is a good fellow!" (letter June 10, 1897). The print run was no doubt small - as well as the paper copies Ibbett produced one copy on vellum for Harry Buxton Forman (Norman Colbeck collection). From Stetz: 'England in the 1890s: literary publishing at the Bodley Head': 'William J. Ibbett, a colleague of Buxton Forman’s in the Post Office, can best be described as a minor poetaster in an age of minor poets. Nearly all his books were issued in tiny editions.". John Collins in 'The Two Forgers' notes that Forman patronized Ibbett ' a minor poet of West Country origin, who ran a private press at Epsom'. It has been said: "[Ibbett's] poetry was notably bad. Only Ibbett could write, publish and re-publish a poem titled 'To a Dead Mistress' (Casey Jones). Spine and top edge duststained, yapp edges slightly frayed, otherwise a Very Good unopened copy.…