Description: Percy Bysshe Shelley. "With Shelley in Italy: being a selection of the poems and letters of Percy Bysshe Shelley which have to do with his life in Italy from 1818 to 1822; selected and arranged by Anna Benneson McMahan. Chicago; A.C. McClurg & Co., 1905. Printed on gorgeous handmade Italian paper (check out the watermark of Dante in laurels, pictured!) and with the copious illustrations on Japan paper. The cover hand-painted and illuminated on antique-style Florence vellum parchment. A large, hefty 8vo. Condition- inside, wonderful. Outside, the parchment binding is worn and has cracked at the bottom of the front cover. Binding still solid. Self-exiled from England at the age of twenty- six, Shelley never returned to that country, but spent the remaining four years of his life in Italy, where his muse found utterance and a congenial home. In the second year of exile, he produced "Prometheus Unbound" and "The Cenci." In this fascinating book, McMahan attempts through the grouping of letters and passages from the notebooks with the poems to set Shelley's work in its original environment, so that the poems may be seen in the making. This is the deluxe "holiday edition" of the Large Paper edition of this book. The Large Paper edition was limited in total to 100 copies; very few of this particular variant (which, priced at $10 in 1905 rather than the $1.40 for the regular Large Paper edition, was a very luxury book - the equivalent of a $350 holiday book (!) today). From contemporaneous ads for the edition: "Special attention is called to the Large Paper Editions, which are of extreme beauty, and meet all the requirements of a handsome gift book. The text is printed on Italian hand-made paper, and the illustrations in brown ink on Japan paper. The book is bound in grey paper sides with an embossed fleur-de-lis in gold, and vellum back. Price, $3.75 net. The same in full vellum, $5.00 The same bound in Florence, parchment, antique style, Florentine hand-illumination, $10.00 net." The publisher's original description: "Being a Selection of the Poems and Letters of Percy Bysshe Shelley Which have to do with his Life in Italy from 1818 to 1822Selected and Arranged by ANNA BENNESON MCMAHAN With Over 60 Full-Page Illustrations. Price, $1.40 netIt is impossible to think of Shelley without associating him with Italy. It was during the Italian period of his life that his genius matured, and it was the atmosphere and surroundings of that country which inspired him to produce such masterpieces as "Prometheus Unbound," "Ode to the West Wind," and "The Cenci." But it is not only in his verse that Shelley has celebrated Italy, but also in his descriptions which have been handed down to us in the shape of letters. It has been the author's aim in this volume to present the poems in their original environment, and to conduct the reader into that very atmosphere where they were created. This she has attempted by means of illustrations, and also by letters and passages from note-books, which are arranged with the poems, so that the latter may be seen in the making. This is the object of the volume, and the idea, which has been most successfully carried out, makes a book of exquisite charm and unique interest."
Price: 175 USD
Location: Decatur, Georgia
End Time: 2025-01-14T01:38:30.000Z
Shipping Cost: 6.75 USD
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Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Binding: Vellum
Place of Publication: Chicago, IL
Signed: No
Publisher: A. C. McClurg & Company
Subject: Literature & Fiction
Original/Facsimile: Original
Year Printed: 1905
Language: English
Special Attributes: 1st Edition, Illuminated, Illustrated, Limited Edition, Luxury Edition, Anna McMahan; Percy Bysshe Shelley, Large Paper Edition, Shelley's Poems and Letters From His Stay in Italy, With Shelley in Italy
Author: Anna McMahan; Percy Bysshe Shelley
Personalized: No
Region: North America
Country/Region of Manufacture: Italy
Topic: Poetry
Unit Quantity: 1
Character Family: With Shelley in Italy
