Books

First edition, the copy of prime minister Stanley Baldwin, with a presentation letter from Sir George Barstow. Wordsworth's writings had a deep influence on Baldwin's politics, which were based on a bucolic, idealized vision of England: "His feeling for the land was not the soft deception of the city farmer. It stemmed directly from the romantic poets, from a childhood steeped in Wordsworth" (Middlemas, p. 2). The letter, dated "June", and on Barstow's 36 Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park stationery, reads: "My dear Baldwin, I happened on this copy of a first edition of The Excursion at my booksellers the other day, and having observed that you are one of the faithful who read him thought that it ought to be in your possession. So may I have the pleasure of giving it you in memory of our years together at Whitehall? Yours ever George Barstow". Baldwin served as Conservative Prime Minister from May 1923 to January 1924, November 1924 to June 1929, and June 1935 to May 1937. Barstow (1874-1966) joined the Treasury in 1909, and from 1919 to 1927 held the key position of Controller of Supply Services. In this role, he worked closely with Baldwin, who served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1917 to 1921. The Excursion "speaks for the first time with Wordsworth's mature voice... The Excursion announced to the world for the first time its author's larger ambitions" (ODNB). The first edition was "an elegant and costly quarto" (ibid). "At 42 shillings... The First edition, the copy of prime minister Stanley Baldwin, with a presentation letter from Sir George Barstow. Wordsworth's writings had a deep influence on Baldwin's politics, which were based on a bucolic, idealized vision of England: "His feeling for the land was not the soft deception of the city farmer. It stemmed directly from the romantic poets, from a childhood steeped in Wordsworth" (Middlemas, p. 2). The letter, dated "June", and on Barstow's 36 Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park stationery, reads: "My dear Baldwin, I happened on this copy of a first edition of The Excursion at my booksellers the other day, and having observed that you are one of the faithful who read him thought that it ought to be in your possession. So may I have the pleasure of giving it you in memory of our years together at Whitehall? Yours ever George Barstow". Baldwin served as Conservative Prime Minister from May 1923 to January 1924, November 1924 to June 1929, and June 1935 to May 1937. Barstow (1874-1966) joined the Treasury in 1909, and from 1919 to 1927 held the key position of Controller of Supply Services. In this role, he worked closely with Baldwin, who served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1917 to 1921. The Excursion "speaks for the first time with Wordsworth's mature voice... The Excursion announced to the world for the first time its author's larger ambitions" (ODNB). The first edition was "an elegant and costly quarto" (ibid). "At 42 shillings... The Excursion in quarto was, for its length, perhaps the most expensive work of literature ever published in England, and Wordsworth had to wait six years for most of the 500 copies to be sold before the book was reprinted in octavo. Wordsworth may have believed that the rural poor were more sensitive to literature than gentlemen, but he did not number many leech gatherers among his readers. For the price of one copy of The Excursion in quarto, a reader in Salisbury could have bought over a hundred fat pigs" (St Clair, pp. 201-2). After the expensive quarto format was abandoned, it "became a favourite poem for Victorian readers", and "was issued separately many times until late in the century" (ODNB). Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Magazine, and presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 US elections; his book label is loosely inserted, as is the auction slip from the sale of Baldwin's library at Sotheby's, 19 July 1994 (lot 311). READ MORE Quarto (281 x 223 mm), pp. xxii, 447, [1]; 234 (of 235) leaves, bound without half-title, with errata leaf. Late 19th-century half calf, red morocco label, brown cloth sides, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, others uncut. Neat repair at foot of rear joint, scratch at head of spine, lightly rubbed, scattered very light foxing. A very good, wide-margined copy. Amherst Wordsworth Collection, p. 7; Wise 10. Keith Middlemas, Baldwin: A Biography, 1969; William St Clair, The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period, 2004.

First published in 1814, 'The Excursion' is considered one of Wordsworth's major poems, addressing themes of human life and nature.