Author: BOONE (James Shergold):
Title: Men and Things in 1823; A Poem in Three Epistles, with notes.
Description: London: Printed [by A. Applegath] for Hatchard and Son..., 1823. Large 8vo, 198 x 134 mms., pp. vii [viii "General Argument"], 155 [156 colophon], contemporary quarter roan, green boards; 19th century ownership stamp at top of title-page, text browned, spine defective. A so-so copy. Boone (1798 - 1859) began his literary career when he was 22, with The Welcome of Isis, a tribute to the Duke of Wellington. The present poem, with high praise for George Canning, is an intelligent survey of contemporary European politics. Sound familiar? Boone's observations would not sound out-of-place in journalism obsessed with Brexit. The European Review for January, 1824, commented that "We are a trading nation, and treat freedom too much as a matter of mere calculation." The conclusion of this 17-page review suggests that the reviewer might have his tongue firmly in his cheek: "It is but just to add that he has accomplished all that he pretends to; that the syllables in each line are correctly counted, and the final ones have a very tolerable resemblance to each other. Some passages deserve higher praise [sic], and might be quoted as specimens of nervous versification."

Keywords: poetry politics literature


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