Books

First editions, first state. London: Printed by M [iles] F [lesher] for John Marriot, 1633 (Poems); London: Printed by E [lizabeth] P [urslowe] for Henry Seyle, 1633. Quarto (7 5/16", 5 3/16", 186mm x 133mm). [Full collation available.] Complete with all blanks. Bound in later (19th century?) brown calf, with a triple blind gilt fillet border surrounding a blind roll on the boards. On the spine, four raised bands with a blind roll. Blind ornaments in the panels. Title gilt to brown calf label in the second panel. Imprint gilt to lower panel. Dashed gilt roll toward the corners of the edges of the boards. Blind roll inside dentelle. Brown end-papers. All edges of the text-block red. Presented in a brown calf solander box by Riviere & Son. Front board starting at the upper edge. Some rubbing at the extremities. Very good margins (20mm and more), and a very little foxing. With a 19th-century armorial bookplate of Smith of Exeter (sable, a fess cotised between three martlets or; crest: a greyhound sejant collared) on the front paste-down. On A1r of the Poems, an ownership inscription of Gilbert Spencer in a 17th-century hand. On the upper edge of the title-page of the Poems, an ownership inscription of Richard Shuttleworth in an 18th-century hand. Passim, but especially pp. 326-352 of the Poems (satyres and letters), substantial marginal commentary and emendation in a 17th-century hand. This is the chief collection of Donne's poetry, much of which was either unpublished or circulated privately (often in manuscript) while he lived. After his death in 1631, the publication of his poems (as well as the first appearance of several elegies written by Izaak Walton and others) did a little to elevate his stature in the English pantheon. It would not be till the end of the 17th and into the 18th century that he would be given the place of esteem he now holds among English poets. The first edition is quite rare, and even rarer still is the first state of the Poems, with N1r altered to omit the headline to accommodate the thirty-five lines of verse. There is an additional leaf sometimes inserted in the first gathering - apparently a later addition - that is not present. The rarity and importance of the work are augmented in the present copy by its rich set of provenance and annotations. In reverse, the engraved armorial bookplate of the Smith family of Exeter cannot be placed exactly but appears to be late 18th-century or early 19th-century in its style. The Shuttleworth of the title-page (an ink-splotch obscures whether he is Richard or Reverend Shuttleworth) has indicated his college; Alumni Oxonienses records only one Shuttleworth at Lincoln, Richard Shuttleworth of Durham, matriculated 1749 at the age of 17 and died in 1797. Mr. Shuttleworth seems to have given the surname of the author on the title-page. The earliest marks of ownership (on the basis of the hand) seem to be those of Gilbert (Gilberd) Spencer on the initial blank, who writes the following ditty: "Liber est meus/ Testus [sic] est Deus" (the book is mine, God is the witness (or, in better verse, the proof divine)). The hand is certainly rather more florid than that of the annotator, and may well be earlier, but it is an appealing connection. A lengthy reminiscence about the Drury family and Lord Theophilus Walden "At Padua in Italy some 45 years ago." (p. 351) places the annotation in the 1640s or 1650s, since Lord Walden was abroad in Italy 1603-1605. This is all against a letter to Hen. Goodeere, and the annotator writes above "My Lady Nethersole's father." The familiarity with the movements of these intimates of Donne's suggests that the annotator was himself at least at the periphery of Donne's circle. The emendations, which are quite subtle and sound, also suggest that he had access to manuscript versions of the poems. In all, a volume redolent of Donne. Grolier Donne 81; Grolier English 25; Hayward 54; Keynes 43 and 78; ESTC S121684 (STC2 7045, Poems) and S109980 (STC2 7043, Juvenilia).

John Donne's poetry is known for its vibrant language and inventiveness. His work, which includes sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, and satires, is remarkable for its metaphysical style, and it frequently reflects upon themes of love, death, and religion. 'Poems. With Elegies on the Authors Death' brings together a rich tapestry of Donne's poetical works.