1922 Bayntun First Edition Sonnets From the Portuguese Illustrated by L. Gaston
Author: Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Illustrated by Louise Gaston.
Title: Sonnets from the Portuguese.
Publisher: Bath, George Bayntun, 1922. Printed by Harding and Curtis, Bath. First Limited Edition — one of 1,000 copies printed on handmade paper.
Colophon note: “One Thousand Copies of this Edition have been printed on hand-made paper.”
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 x 5.5 inches.
Pages: 43 pages.
Binding: Attractive and near fine full red polished morocco leather binding by Bayntun, Bath (binder’s stamp to verso of front free endpaper), the covers framed with gilt fillet borders and elegant gilt floral cornerpieces. The spine with raised bands, compartments richly gilt tooled with stylized heart and floral motifs, and gilt titling (hinges fine - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt. A very handsome and refined presentation binding.
Content: Near fine content (bright, tight and clean - as shown). Marbled endpapers with gilt dentelles. The pages are clean and beautifully preserved, printed on high-quality handmade paper. An excellent and crisp copy internally.
Illustrations: Illustrated throughout with striking full-page black-and-white Art Nouveau plates and decorative initials by Louise Gaston. A fine example of early 20th-century illustrated poetry publishing.
Estimate: (USD 500–700).
The book: A beautifully produced and finely bound limited edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s most beloved poetic cycle, Sonnets from the Portuguese — here presented in an elegant fine-press format and enhanced with evocative black-and-white illustrations by Louise Gaston. Printed on handmade paper and bound by the celebrated Bayntun bindery of Bath, this copy reflects both the literary importance of the text and the craftsmanship of English book arts in the early 20th century.
The sonnets, composed during Barrett Browning’s courtship with Robert Browning, are among the most cherished love poems in the English language. This edition combines poetic sentiment, aesthetic illustration, and luxury binding in a manner that makes it especially desirable for collectors of fine bindings, poetry, and private press-style editions.
The author: Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) was one of the great voices of Victorian poetry, admired in Britain and abroad for the emotional intensity, lyrical imagination, and moral depth of her work. Her Sonnets from the Portuguese — originally published in 1850 — remain her most enduring and intimate achievement, charting the evolution of love, vulnerability, and devotion with rare sincerity and musical grace. The cycle continues to be celebrated today as one of the finest poetic expressions of romantic love in the English canon.
The illustrator: Louise Gaston, an early 20th-century illustrator associated with the revival of decorative book design, provides here a series of expressive and atmospheric images rendered in bold linework. Her illustrations blend Pre-Raphaelite sensibility with Art Nouveau elegance, visually echoing the emotional cadence of Barrett Browning’s verse. The result is a poetic and artistic dialogue between text and image that elevates this edition beyond a simple literary printing into a finely crafted art object.