THE SEASONS

London: s.n., 1730. First Collected Edition. 292 x 223 mm. (11 1/2 x 9"). 6 p.l., 252 pp.
Pleasing polished calf, gilt, by Riviere & Son (stamp-signed on verso of front free endpaper), covers with French fillet border, raised bands, spine compartments with central sunflower sprig surrounded by small floral tools, lily sprays at corners, two light brown morocco labels, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Engraved vignette to title page, and FIVE ENGRAVED PLATES, four with allegorical depictions of each season, the last a memorial to Sir Isaac Newton. Front pastedown with bookplate of Christopher Clark Geest. ESTC T153055. ◆Narrow three-inch black ink(?) smudge on front cover, corners and edges with light wear, otherwise quite a fine copy with only trivial imperfections, the text and plates on fresh, clean, and bright paper, the margins very ample, and the binding quite attractive on the shelf.

Printed on high quality laid paper and looking very much like a Large Paper copy, this is an attractively bound volume containing "The Seasons," the most influential poem in blank verse from Milton to the Romantics. Originally published as four separate poems from 1726-30, the work was widely popular, influencing artists, musicians, and writers such as Wordsworth, Joseph Haydn, and J. M. W. Turner. This first collected edition is composed of the four poems devoted to the natural splendors displayed in each season of the year, as well as "A Hymn," praising God for the seasons' beauties, and "A Poem Sacred to the Memory of Isaac Newton," dedicated to Sir Horace Walpole. As DNB explains of the latter work, "Thomson's poem is an apotheosis rather than an elegy: it is a hymn on the works and wonders of almighty power in which the imagination follows Newton's soul on a great celestial voyage." Born in Scotland, James Thomson (1700-48), who is also famous for his song "Rule Britannia," is credited with challenging the artificiality of English poetry and beginning a new era of sentiment for nature. Although the present work is not rare on the market, ours is an excellent copy: the contents are very well preserved, and the book makes a handsome appearance on the shelf..