Beschreibung:

Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, 1st edition, printed for Taylor and Hessey, 1820, half-title, errata slip, and 10 pages publisher's catalogue present, first and final letterpress leaf and endpapers spotted, bookplate of Richard Adams, and book ticket bearing initials 'AHA', untrimmed, original boards, very slightly rubbed and mottled in places, printed paper spine label, large 12mo, housed in a cloth folder in a brown quarter morocco slipcase, raised bands, gilt lettered direct in second and fourth compartments and at foot Hayward 236. Tinker 636. An exceptionally good copy of the first edition of John Clare's scarce first book, in the original publisher's binding, complete with half-title, errata and advertisements. Born in 1793, the son of humble and almost illiterate parents, Clare grew up in the Northamptonshire village of Helpston. His formal education, such as it was, ended when he was eleven years old, but Clare had a thirst for knowledge and began writing poetry when he was thirteen. Although his poetical gift was considered inexplicable even to himself, he was astonishingly prolific. Like Roberts Burns, with whom he has been compared, Clare was profoundly influenced by his surroundings, and his poetry is enriched by the use of his native Northamptonshire vernacular. Sadly, despite his early success, he died ill and in debt in a lunatic asylum in 1864. As a poet of rural England he has few rivals. (1)