I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
Selections from A.C. Swinburne
London: William Heinemann, 1919. Item #06459
“Swinburne in Selected Form: A Limited 1919 Edition Edited by Gosse & Wise”
SWINBURNE, Algernon Charles. Selections from A.C. Swinburne. Edited by Edmund Gosse and Thomas James Wise. London: William Heinemann, 1919.
Limited to 525 copies of which this is no. 162.
Octavo (8 7/8 x 5 3/4 inches; 225 x146 mm.). x, 288 pp.
Mid twentieth century three quarter dark blue morocco over blue cloth boards rued in gilt, spine with five raised bands lettered in gilt. marbled end-papers, top edge gilt, others uncut.
A finely produced posthumous selection of Swinburne’s poetry, edited by two of the most prominent literary figures of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Edmund Gosse, a close friend and early champion of Swinburne, provides a sympathetic editorial framework, while the involvement of Thomas James Wise adds a layer of bibliographical intrigue.
Issued in a limited edition on quality paper, the volume reflects the continued reverence for Swinburne in the years following his death in 1909, presenting a carefully curated selection intended to secure his standing among the great English poets of the nineteenth century.
Of particular note is Wise’s participation: though celebrated in his lifetime as a preeminent bibliographer and collector, he was later exposed as one of the most notorious literary forgers of the modern era.
While this volume itself is entirely legitimate, Wise’s association lends it a certain historical interest for collectors of bibliographical history and the literature of forgery.
Price: $250.00