33 LITERATURE “The War And Peace Of English Poetry” Scarce first editions of Byron’s great work—Cantos I-XVI complete in six volumes, with Volume I the scarce first issue, in quarto format—very handsomely bound. “The War and Peace of English poetry, Don Juan contains… an epic sweep that moves from Spain, to the East, and to Russia before ending in England… At the same time that Byron’s broad canvas foretells the scope of the great 19th-century novels, the poet’s own sensibilities echo the picaresque 18th-century novels of his early reading, Smollett and Fielding, with their bawdy humor and sly inversions of vice and virtue. Unlike these prose narratives, however, Don Juan has no beginning, middle, or end. It draws us in, not to learn ‘what happens next’ but to hear what this seductive, confidential, teasing voice is going to tell us” (Eisler, 610). “The first editions of the four volumes of the last 11 Cantos of Don Juan were… issued in three sizes: ‘Large Paper’ or demy octavo, ‘Small Paper’ or foolscap octavo, and the ‘Common Edition’ or 18mo” (Randolph). Volume I was published in an edition of 1500 copies, 150 of which were destroyed by the publisher after this volume was reprinted in octavo format; the ‘large-paper’ octavos were issued in editions of 1500 copies, with ‘small-paper’ octavos in editions of 2500-3000 and 15,000 or so in the common edition (Randolph). This set consists of the quarto first editions of Cantos I and II with ‘Large Paper’ first editions of Cantos III-XVI; the scarce half titles and all advertisements are present as called for, as well as the erratum slip for Canto XVI. Randolph, 69, 74, 82-83, 86-87, 91. Quarto volume with light to moderate foxing, extremities slightly rubbed; octavo volumes bright and fresh. A desirable set. 43BYRON. Don Juan. London, 1819-21; 1823-24. Six volumes bound in three. Quarto and octavo, contemporary (quarto) and modern (octavo) three-quarter polished tan calf gilt. $17,000
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