Spenser EdmundBiblio.com
SPENSER, EDMUNDBiblio.com
COMPLAINTS
1591ST18266London: Imprinted for William Ponsonbie dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head 1591. FIRST EDITION. 182 x 130 mm. 7 1/4 x 5 1/4". 91 leaves lacking blank Z4. <br/> Late 19th century green crushed morocco by Riviere & Son stamp-signed on front turn-in covers with decorative gilt lozenge centerpiece raised bands gilt lettering gilt-ruled turn-ins. Housed in a modern brown buckram chemise and attractive morocco-backed slipcase. Main title page with woodcut border McKerrow & Ferguson 117 section titles for three of the poems with woodcut frame woodcut initials head- and tailpieces. Front pastedown with engraved armorial bookplate of Charles Lilburn and ex-libris of Kenneth Rapoport see below. Langland to Wither 235; Hayward 23; Johnson 14; Pforzheimer 968; STC 23078; ESTC S111266. The Rosenbach Company catalogue 45 #690 this copy. Spine sunned to olive brown faint fading and soiling to covers just a hint of rubbing to corners and spine ends contents lightly washed and pressed in keeping with bibliophilic fashion at the time of binding occasional small spot or other trivial imperfection but an excellent copy clean and fresh internally in a perfectly pleasant binding.<br/> <br/> This is an appealing copy with star-studded provenance of one of the less frequently encountered first editions of Edmund Spenser ca. 1552-99 the first modern English poet to achieve major stature during his lifetime. It comprises a collection of six poems and three translations assembled by publisher William Ponsonby in order to capitalize on the recently experienced success of "The Faerie Queene." In the preface Ponsonby describes these poems as "complaints and meditations of the worlds vanitie very grave and profitable." The included works some dating back to Spenser's college days are: "The Ruines of Time" "The Teares of the Muses" "Virgils Gnat" "Proposia Or Mother Hubberds Tale" "Ruines of Rome" "Muiopotmos or the Fate of the Butterflie" "Visions of the Worlds Vanitie" "Bellayes Visions" and "Petrarches Visions." Six of these are original poems all previously unpublished and three are translations one unpublished and two revised. Unfortunately "Proposia" was a political satire on the attempts to arrange a marriage between Elizabeth I and the Duc d'Alençon that resulted in the entire volume being banned. That poem was omitted from early editions of the collected minor poems. Day says Spenser demonstrated "with his fluency in many meters and stanzaic forms . . . that English was at least the equal to any other language as a vehicle of great poetry." Although his poetry particularly "The Faerie Queene" looks backward--as the culmination of the allegorical verse tradition of the Pearl Poet Langland and Chaucer--Spenser has influenced with "his fertile imagination and especially his sensuous imagery and melodic language" nearly every important English poet who followed him. Our volume has distinguished provenance four times over. The first known owner here Charles Lilburn Esq. 1842-91 was an antiquary businessman Justice of the Peace and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. George Neasham in "North-Country Sketches" 1893 calls Lilburn "bibliomaniacal" but also "one of nature’s gentlemen." In 1888 the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne" claimed that Lilburn’s library "would have charmed the heart of Dibdin himself." The present copy then apparently became the subsequent property of Sir Israel Gollancz 1863-1930 distinguished Shakespearian scholar and editor of early English literature at least he is named as a previous owner when this copy was sold by Swann Galleries in May of 2022 at the Rapoport sale. The book appeared later in the inventory of the rare book firm of A. S. W. Rosenbach 1876-1952 of Philadelphia where it was listed in the 1941 catalogue as item #690 priced at $300. Finally it became part of the library of Ken Rapoport who amassed an outstanding collection over 50 years with special emphasis on works of drama and poetry by English and Spanish authors among them Shakespeare Spenser and Cervantes. "Complaints" is scarce is virtually never found except in a modern binding and is usually seen in unappealing internal condition. Imprinted for William Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head unknown
