Poetry of Byron. Chosen and arranged by Matthew Arnold

BYRON | Matthew ARNOLD

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"MY DAYS ARE IN THE YELLOW LEAF, THE FLOWERS AND FRUITS OF LOVE ARE GONE": POETRY OF BYRON, CHOSEN AND ARRANGED BY MATTHEW ARNOLD

BYRON. Poetry of Byron. Chosen and arranged by Matthew Arnold. London: Macmillan, 1927. Small octavo, early 20th-century full burgundy and red paneled calf, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.

Later printing of Matthew Arnold's selection of Lord Byron's poems, with an engraved vignette portrait of Byron by G.J. Stodart on the title page. Handsomely bound by Riviere & Son.

Includes selections from Byron's best-known works, divided into the categories "Personal, Lyric, and Elegiac"; "Descriptive and Narrative"; "Dramatic"; and "Satiric." With a preface by poet and critic Matthew Arnold. This selection was first published in 1881; this copy is 11th printing.

Interior clean, a few minor rubs to binding. A handsome, near-fine copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
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Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
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Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
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Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
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Morocco Binding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
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