Books

London: Taylor and Hessey, 1820. [11], 4-199pp, [9]. Contemporary sheep backed marbled paper over boards. Marbled paper chipped with some loss of paper to lower cover, upper board patched, with variant paper used to cover bottom third, corners bumped, spine ends slightly chipped. Inner joints cracked, there is a list in pen to front pastedown, a presentation annotation to ffep relating to the East India Company, and 'Number Twenty-One' to head of reverse, with another presentation inscription to reverse of title, text is lightly soiled throughout, occasionally heavier, mainly to margins, with sporadic spotting and some light browning, page edges untrimmed and slightly browned, with juvenile pencil drawings of heads to F5, pen trials to bottom margin of H1v, and a juvenile pencil drawing of a house to the lower free endpaper. Now housed in a morocco backed drop back box by Temple Bookbinders, with raised bands, spine in six panels, author and title lettered directly to second…

The Eve of St. Agnes is a romantic poem written by John Keats in 1819, published in 1820. This poem is written in Spenserian stanzas and is considered one of Keats's finest works. It tells the story of a young lady named Madeline and her romantic endeavor on the eve of St. Agnes.

For 'The Eve of St. Agnes,' a first edition detection might include a publisher's imprint and date, paper quality, typographical details, and any errors distinctive to the first printing. Provenance or documentation that traces ownership may also contribute to verifying a first edition.