SHELLEY, Percy Bysshe. Alastor, or, the spirit of solitude: and other poems. London: Baldwin, Cradock and Joy etc. 1816.
Small 8vo. Late nineteenth century full light tan calf, double gilt fillets to sides, spine with gilt raised bands and tools, gilt burgundy morocco lettering pieces, gilt turn ins, marbled endpapers; pp. viii, 101; very slight scratches to front, a little spotting to endpapers, otherwise near fine.
First edition. A very rare copy in unusually nice condition of Shelley's first major poem, written in September 1815 and recounting the life of the idealistic Poet, inspired possibly by Wordsworth or by Southey, who wanders the Earth looking for transcendence from the natural world to the spiritual. The Poet's spiritual yearning is symbolised by the figure of a beautiful young woman, making it clear that, for Shelley, the path to transcendence is through earthly human love. It is a seminal work of English Romanticism and the poem that Mary Shelley felt was, with its metaphysical theme and its preoccupation with death, the most characteristic of its author.
The critical response was initially uncomprehending but the deep resonance of the work was eventually accepted: "As first published, it is accompanied by ten minor poems (Stanzas, Sonnets, etc.) and the first part of "The Daemon of The World"... In an article on Young Poets in The Examiner for December 1, constituting perhaps the 'first public recognition of Shelley's poetical gifts,' Leigh Hunt characterized the author of Alastor (then a stranger to him) as 'a very striking and original thinker.' It is generally conceded that in Alastor Shelley showed himself a greater master of blank verse than any other poet of the time" (Granniss, Shelley 32).
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