THE POETICAL WORKS (FORE-EDGE PAINTINGS). COWPER, WILLIAM Bindings - 19th century,Fore-Edge Paintings,Literature,Poetry

168 x 140 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 1/8"). Three volumes. With notes and a memoir by John Bruce. Contemporary hazel brown roan by MacLehose of Glasgow, raised bands, gilt lettering to spine, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. EACH VOLUME WITH A MODERN FORE-EDGE PAINTING BY STEVEN ST. CLAIR SMALLWOOD (signed and dated VIII/MMVI on recto of rear endpaper), one with two panels, showing Stoke Poges Church and the "ivy mantled tower," the other volumes with views of Windsor Castle and Eton College. One spine with very shallow divot at top, trivial scratches to covers, but the bindings solid, the interiors fresh and clean, with only the most trivial defects, and THE FORE-EDGE PAINTINGS AS NEW. This is an especially pleasing copy, with extraordinarily fresh and bright fore-edge paintings, of the finely crafted poetry of William Cowper (1731-1800), the most notable English poet before the Romantics in terms of a tendency to be confessional in one's verse. Given the fact that Cowper was institutionalized and that he several times attempted suicide, these self-revelatory poems can easily be seen as a kind of therapeutic experience, and it is testimony to the complexity of his personality that so much of Cowper's verse is light, conversational, and epigrammatic. His poems range widely, from religious reflections to translations of Homer to poetry inspired by a lady's suggestion that he could write on any topic, including a sofa (see vol. II, p. 7). This edition was assembled by antiquary John Bruce (1802-69), whose papers collected for this project now reside in Oxford's Bodleian Library. The well-executed paintings depict quintessential English landmarks. The first volume's split-panel painting reflects the famous Thomas Gray poem, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," which describes St. Giles Church in Stoke Poges with its "ivy mantled tower." The other two, depicting Windsor Castle and Eton College, respectively, provide a sense of the grandeur and scale of these iconic buildings, with miniature figures in the foreground and dramatic, rolling clouds behind. All three paintings show a wonderful delicacy, with fine detail and deft shading, and feature a fresh and appealing color palette. They are also unusual in that, while the scenes are meant to be viewed with the books fanned out, they can be clearly seen even with the volumes shut tight. The shut images are a little more squat than those in the fanned-out state, but the paint and the gilt combine on the shut edges to provide unexpectedly beautiful shimmering representations.