Uncut in Boards
An Essay on Mind, With Other Poems.
London: James Duncan, 1826.
Price: $5,000.00
About the item
First edition, first issue with line 15, p. 75, reading "found," and pages 12, 24 & 148 correctly aligned. xiii, [iii], 152 pp., issued without half-title. 1 vols. 8vo. Uncut in Boards. Uncut in original gray boards with printed spine label. Front board detached, light rubbing; faint stain to gutter of flyleaf, barely visible at gutter of title leaf. Full morocco slipcase. Barnes EB2; Hayward 238. Provenance: William Harvis Arnold (bookplate).
Item #305340
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's first mature work, and her first regularly published book. Her first book, The Battle of Marathon, was privately printed for her father in an edition of only 50 copies when she was 14 years old. It is known in only 15 extant copies. An Essay, published when Browning was only 20, reflects her "passion for Byron and Greek politics with an exploration of the human mind's powers. The poem never directly considers how gender influences genius and the prospects for fame. But clearly this is an underlying concern …" (ODNB).
