Shelley Percy B.ABAA
EPIPSYCHIDION: VERSES ADDRESSED TO THE NOBLE AND UNFORTUNATE LADY EMILIA V ____ NOW IMPRISONED IN THE CONVENT OF ____
1821WRCLIT66924London: C. and J. Ollier 1821. 67-311pp. Octavo. Sewn self-wrappers untrimmed. Some dust tanning at extended edges a few soft creases and light spots of soiling but a very good copy. Full morocco slipcase and chemise. First edition published anonymously and one of Shelley's scarcest later publications. This copy has the title in the form with the colon after the main title. The lady addressed in the subtitle Emilia Viviani is generally regarded as the motivation for the poem's completion rather than its original inspiration as Grannis quotes Richard Garnett's observation that the poem was in its first draft before Shelley made her acquaintance. It was long asserted that the edition consisted of only one hundred copies but recent scholarship suggests a modestly larger edition perhaps on the order of three hundred copies. GRANNISS pp.65-7. WISE P.59. TINKER 1900. NCBEL III:315. C. and J. Ollier unknown books
