"I'LL NOT LEAVE THEE, THOU LONE ONE, TO PINE ON THE STEM"

MOORE, Thomas. The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore, Collected by Himself. London: Longmans, Orme, et al., 1840-41. Ten volumes. Small octavo, early 20th-century three-quarter green morocco, raised bands, elegantly gilt-decorated spines, green linen boards, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. $1500.

First collected edition of Thomas Moore’s poetry, edited by him, with steel-engraved frontispieces and title page vignettes by the Heaths (Charles, Alfred, and Frederick). Beautifully bound by Hatchards Piccadilly.

Moore's canon includes his famous Irish Melodies (1807-34), containing such memorable poems as "The Last Rose of Summer" and "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms." For contemporary critics, Moore rivaled Byron and Scott— largely based upon his Lalla Rookh (1817)— perhaps the most translated poem of its time. This first complete collection was edited by Moore himself, upon which he "has laid the hand of excision and improvement" (Literary Gazette). Lowndes, 1597.

A fine set, with foxing only to the first few leaves of Volume II, expert repair to front joint of Volume I. A very attractive set.