Author: GOLDSMITH (Oliver):
Title: The Poems of Oliver Goldsmith Embellished with Engravings from the Designs of Ricdhd. Westall, R. A. The Traveller, The Deserted Villag,and Other Poems
Description: London: Printed for John Sharpe, Piccadilly..., 1816. [1817 for printed title-page]. 12mo, 166 x 96 mms., pp. [5] 6 - 166, including half-title, engraved and printed title-pages, 5 engraved vignettes, contemporary green morocco, panelled in blind, with gilt roll on borders, spine gilt; joints rubbed, lacking title-label. With the simple bookplate of "Jane Bird" on the front paste-down end-paper. Samuel Johnson, who contributed some lines to The Traveller didn't hesitate to give a very enthusiastic endorsement in the Critical Review for 1764: "as a production to which, since the death of Pope, it will not be easy to find any thing equal." It has been a popular poems since its publication, and, for example, the bibliographer Egerton Brydges (1762 -1837) said of it, "The sentiments are always interesting, generally just, and often new; the imagery is elegant, picturesque, and occasionally sublime; the language is nervous, highly finished, and full of harmony." I still read Goldsmith with pleasure, and many lines, such the ones which open The Deserted Village have stayed with me for decades. Hands up those of you who still read Goldsmith.

Keywords: illustration poetry literature


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