The Poetical Works of George Herbert by George Herbert

The Poetical Works of George Herbert, Illustrated. Published in London by James Nisbet and Co., Berners Street, in 1857 (MDCCCLVII). This is an early printing of Nisbet’s celebrated illustrated edition, first issued in 1856.

The Poetical Works of George Herbert runs to 256 pages. It opens with an engraved additional title, “Herbert Poems”, framed in a rich border of ivy, and the poems are illustrated throughout with engravings and decorative ornaments. The designs are by Myles Birket Foster, John Clayton and Henry Noel Humphreys, three of the leading illustrators of the Victorian gift book.

George Herbert (1593 to 1633) was an English poet, orator and priest of the Church of England, and one of the great metaphysical poets. His devotional verse, collected in The Temple, has been loved for nearly four centuries. Nisbet’s illustrated edition presented his poetry in the finest style of the 1850s, as a book to be treasured and given as a gift.

The Poetical Works of George Herbert is in a handsome Victorian binding, deeply blind-tooled on both boards, with a decorative spine, red edges and marbled endpapers. It will appeal to collectors of English poetry, devotional literature, Victorian illustrated books and decorative bindings.

Condition – Good

Bound in full leather, deeply blind-tooled on both boards with a Gothic panel design. The spine has raised bands, each compartment richly blind-tooled, with a brown lettering piece carrying the title in gilt. The leather shows moderate wear with some loss, especially at the extremities, and the head and tail of the spine are heavily worn. All edges red, with marbled endpapers. The front free endpaper has a contemporary ink gift inscription to “darling Dolly” with “Granny’s best love and wishes”, dated 17 November 1866. Foxing to the printed title page. The binding is firm and the text is complete. A charming Victorian gift copy.