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HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
THE POETICAL WORKS
Complete Copyright Edition.
London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press Warehouse, 1893.
Full Morocco Leather Bound for John Bumpus
Gilt Borders & Spine • All Edges Gilt
Robert Anning Bell Bookplate Dated 1899
A handsome late Victorian collected edition of Longfellow’s poetry, bound in full rose-red straight-grain morocco leather for John Bumpus, 350 Oxford Street, London.
The volume retains the pictorial bookplate of Harry and Ovida Lewis, designed by Robert Anning Bell, with his name and the date 1899 incorporated into the printed design. An earlier ownership inscription, “H. O. L., July 1896,” appears on a preliminary blank.
The binding
Full straight-grain morocco leather in a warm salmon or rose-red shade. Both covers have multiple gilt rules enclosing a repeated floral border.
The spine is divided by five raised bands, with the title lettered directly in gilt and the remaining compartments decorated with floral and foliate tools. Gilt-tooled board edges and broad, richly decorated turn-ins frame marbled endpapers in muted red, blue, and gray. All page edges are gilt.
The front turn-in bears the stamp:
JOHN BUMPUS
350 OXFORD STREET
Described here as bound for John Bumpus; no attribution to a particular workshop or individual binder is made.
Robert Anning Bell bookplate
Mounted on the rear pastedown is the pictorial ex libris of Harry & Ovida Lewis, bearing the printed signature and date:
R. An. Bell 1899
The design depicts a classically dressed couple in a landscape setting, surrounded by decorative framing and lettering incorporating the concluding lines of Keats’s Ode on a Grecian Urn:
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
A distinctive additional feature for collectors of Victorian bookplates, literary ex libris, and Arts and Crafts design.
The signature and date are printed within the bookplate; this is not an original drawing or a hand-signed work by Bell.
Ownership markings
A preliminary blank bears “H. O. L., July 1896,” together with a small later pencil notation. The initials may relate to the Lewis ownership, but the identity of the writer has not been established.
Contents
Printed in double columns, the volume includes Evangeline, The Song of Hiawatha, The Courtship of Miles Standish, Tales of a Wayside Inn, The Wreck of the Hesperus, and The Skeleton in Armor, together with other poems and translations.
Condition
Very good overall, with visible surface wear and marking to the binding.
Several dark marks and small stains occur on the front board, with lighter scattered marks on the rear. Spine, joints, and extremities show rubbing and darkening; corners and spine ends have light wear.
Binding and text block remain secure. Gilt decoration is generally bright. Gilt page edges show minor scratches and handling marks. Internally, occasional light spotting, toning, and small marks are present, together with the ownership inscription, pencil notation, and rear bookplate.
Please examine all photographs carefully for the binding, Bumpus stamp, bookplate, and condition.
