Browning, Elizabeth Barrett

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Poetical Works (Five Volumes)

New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1900. First Editions Thus. Hardcovers. A comprehensive collection of poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), the canonical & still-highly popular British poet of the Victorian era. A complete & exquisite set of five smaller antiquarian volumes, each with genuine marble paper partial covers, paste-downs & endpapers; warm leather spines & partial covers; gilt upper text block-edges, spine letters & decorations; beautiful engraved frontispiece portraits with titled protective sheets. At copyright pages, the year 1900 is printed in roman numerals ("MCM"), & no subsequent years are noted on versos or anywhere in the volumes. We have seen references to this American publisher's edition of Browning's poems from 1884-1885, & many other British & American editions, which all appear different from this set. We therefore conclude that this set consists of first editions thus. From the collection of Russell Taylor Weil (b. 1927), a prominent retired attorney & collector from Washington, DC. All the delightful & grand works of this iconic poet, concluding with the nine-part novel-in-verse "Aurora Leigh" which takes up the entire final fifth volume. A stately, most handsome collectible set of classic productions & contents, with distinguished provenance & with all but the first volume in relatively quite very fine unrestored condition: Vol. I with some short, mostly closed vertical tears at upper margin/edge, corners of front cover with slight loss of surface leather; otherwise all volumes with only very slight wear & some tiny bumps at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; moderate browning (no pun intended), slight rubbing to side & lower edges of text blocks; slight rubbing to gilt upper edges of same. Interiors all very fine with only mild browning (again, sorry) mostly to blank margins/edges of page leaves. Near Fine- Very Fine. [Item #5598]

Price: $500.00