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Synopsis

By algernon charles swinburne. an historical and critical commentary being largely a study (and elevation) of swinburne as a novelist by randolph hughes.;

Item Description

FIRST EDITION. Thick 8vo. 8 x 5.75 inches. [8] + xxv + [iii] + 583 pp. Bound in red cloth, gilt, in unclipped dust wrapper, which has edge wear including chips at head and tail of sunned spine. Minor wear to extremities, sunned spine, browning of flyleaves, light spotting of edges and hinges starting to crack; otherwise a very good copy. First edition of a novel by Swinburne (1837-1909), critic, playwright and 'poet of the decadent school.' It was written 1859-68, but suppressed untitled and unpublished as with a lesbian theme and scenes of flogging, it was considered pornographic for its day. The text and its appendices occupies 189 pages; the remainder of the volume is a commentary with notes, including an examination of the British Museum manuscript.