Lot 161

Williams, Helen Maria
Poems




Auction: Other Properties | Wed 25 February from 10am | Lots 63 to 255
Description
London: by A. Rivington and J. Marshall, for Thomas Cadell, 1786. First edition, 2 volumes in 1, 12mo (17 x 10cm), contemporary tree calf, smooth spine gilt in compartments with red morocco label to second, decorative gilt frames to covers, engraved frontispiece after Maria Cosway, [15] 4-116, [7] 4-202 pp., small section excised from head of title-page and first leaf of each volume, spotting to volume 1 title-page and early leaves [ESTC T70027; Rothschild 2581-2; Sabin 104230]
Footnote
Rare first edition of a work by a female poet of the 18th and early 19th centuries noted for her support of radical causes including the abolition of the slave trade. 'The success of Williams's Poems (1786) secured her position as a prominent poet of sensibility and inspired several tributes, including the young William Wordsworth's first published work, 'Sonnet on Seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams Weep at a Tale of Distress' (1787)' (ODNB).



