1860 Rare Book - Henry Kirke White Poems and Melancholy Hours, Illustrated

Author: Henry Kirke White. With a memoir by Robert Southey.
Title: The Poetical and Prose Works of Henry Kirke White.
Publisher: Edinburgh, Gall & Inglis, no date (1860).
Language: Text in English.
Size: 6.5" x 4.5".
Pages: xlviii-432
Binding: Attractive and very good, near fine sumptuous contemporary full red morocco leather binding, elaborately gilt with intricate panel designs on both boards featuring floral and foliate motifs and central lozenge medallion, raised bands with ornate gilt compartments to spine (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt. Gilt inner dentelles. A stunning example of Victorian decorative binding.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, some foxing or staining mainly on the preliminary and last pages - as shown, contemporary Latin gift inscription dated 1862 is penned on the second blank page - as shown). 
Illustrations: Illustrated with eight detailed engravings on steel, as called for, including a portrait frontispiece and a title vignette, all protected by tissue guards. The plates are finely executed and rich in sentimental and Romantic atmosphere. Complete.

The book: A magnificent Victorian edition of The Poetical and Prose Works of Henry Kirke White, handsomely presented in a richly gilt morocco binding. Combining both poetry and prose, this volume includes a memoir by the poet laureate Robert Southey and showcases the emotional depth and precocious brilliance of a young poet who died at just 21. The finely engraved illustrations elevate the work to an object of art as much as literature, and the binding makes it a superb gift or collector’s piece.

The author: Henry Kirke White (1785–1806) was an English poet whose tragically short life inspired generations of Romantic readers. Marked by precocious literary talent, his poems, steeped in Christian faith and youthful melancholy, gained prominence posthumously through the advocacy of Robert Southey. Southey’s memoir of White helped immortalize the young poet’s work and contributed to the 19th-century fascination with poetic genius cut short.