Italy, a Poem. [and] Poems by Samuel Rogers.

ROGERS, Samuel.

Item Number: 141094

London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1830, 1834.

First illustrated editions of Samuel Rogers’ famed works. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in full straight grain morocco by Riviere & Son, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, top edge gilt, illustrated with four plates, 20 in-text illustrations, and more than 100 steel-engraved headpieces and tailpieces after designs by Thomas Stothard and J.M.W. Turner. In near fine condition.

Samuel Rogers was one of the most celebrated English poets during his lifetime, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. Rogers first achieved fame with the publication of The Pleasures of Memory in 1792 and, after traveling to Italy and meeting Shelley and Byron, he produced the first version of his now famed poem, Italy. Published in 1822, the first edition sold poorly. Rogers destroyed all of the unsold copies and, at his own expense, published the present edition, embellished with illustrations by Stothard and Turne,r which made it a commercial success.