THOMSON, James (1700-1748)

The seasons. By Mr. Thomson [Subscribers Edition]

London: [none given], Printed in the Year M.DCC.XXX [1730]. First Edition thus. Full Calf. Subscribers Edition of Thomson's masterpiece, and perhaps the most popular English-language poem in blank verse (running to some 5500 lines in its final form) from Milton to the Romantics, as well as "one of the earliest, longest, and finest nature poems in the English language." (Literary Encyclopedia) Large 4to: [8],250,[4, half title and Argument for Spring, final page of subscribers list, and errata misbound],251-252,16,8pp, with title page in red and black with engraved vignette, five full-page allegorical plates by William Kent (one for each season and one for the valedictory to Newton),and head- and tail-pieces and historiated initials by Samuel Richardson. Contemporary full speckled English calf, flat spine in seven compartments divided by gilt rolls, red morocco lettering piece gilt, board edges gilt-tooled, armorial engraved bookplate of James Grove Wood, Castle Grove, on front paste-down. Wood (1803-1891) lived at Castle Grove, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. An excellent wide-margined copy; joints, caps and corners very skillfully restored; pages generally clean and bright (final four leaves lightly toned; unobtrusive marginal worm track, far from text, through Spring). Foxon T237. Rothschild 2423 (for first collected edition). Lowndes 2671. ESTC Citation No. T141597. Fine-. Item #BB1652

Three quarto editions (ESTC Nos. T153055, T141596, and T141597) were published, in London, in 1730; ours is the most complete. It is a reissue of the First Collected Edition (which includes the first appearance of both "Autumn" and "A Poem Sacred to the Memory of Sir Isaac Newton"), with the addition of "Britannia" (2nd. ed. corrected) and "A paraphrase on the latter part of the sixth chapter of St. Matthew," both with separate pagination and register ("Britannia" also has a separate title page). Not to be confused with any of the three smaller, non-subscription octavo editions , also published in 1730. Thomson treats each season in succession, describing changes in the weather and landscape of the Scottish border country (where he was born) and its inhabitants, human and otherwise, occasionally ranging as far afield as Africa, Surinam, the Arctic, Lapland, and Russia. Each poem devotes particular attention to rivers, rural pastimes and industries, as well as to assorted insects, birds, and beasts. "Winter" was first published in a brief version, in 1726. By 1727, Thomson was composing "Summer," followed by "Spring" (1728), and finally "Autumn," in 1730, the year all four appeared together in this collected edition. According to Lowndes, "about 360 copies were subscribed for at £1.1s." The list of subscribers includes many members of the landed gentry as well as the poets Alexander Pope (3 copies) and Richard Savage, the Scottish artist Alan Ramsay, and the antiquarian Horace Walpole. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $701.00