“THE POET OF HUMANKIND”

BYRON, (George Gordon) Lord. The Poetical Works. London: Charles Daly, circa 1850. Small octavo, contemporary full black morocco, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated boards and spine, all edges gilt. $650.

Family edition of Lord Byron’s collected verse, illustrated with engraved frontispiece portrait, additional engraved title page, and eight additional plates.

"Byron is to a far greater degree than the other romanticists the poet of humankind. He conveys with tremendous power the majesty and desolation of history, the vanity of pomp and pride, the transitoriness of fame. And he is the poet of contemporary society, keen to discern the false and the corrupt, courageous in denunciation yet with pity for the young and innocent… As a poet he mirrored brilliantly and without distortion an absorbingly interesting world" (Baugh, 1229). Gift inscription, bookplate.

Interior fine, minor wear to extremities of lovely gilt binding.