[TAYLOR, WILLIAM; NEWMAN, JOHN; BARNES, WILLIAM; TENNYSON, ALFRED; BROWNING, ROBERT; ARNOLD, MATTHEW; ROSSETTI, CHRISTINA; LYTTON, LORD; MORRIS, WILLIAM; SWINBURN, ALGERNON; LANG, ANDREW; et al]. Living English Poets MDCCCLXXXII. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co., MDCCCLXXXIII. [1883].
FIRST LIMITED EDITION, LARGE PAPER COPY, number 27 of 50 copies, hand-numbered and signed on the limitation page by Wm. Clowes & Sons. Leather-bound; hardcover; tall octavo (25.5 x 17 x 3 cm); pp. [2], xix, 325, [1]. English text. Stunning bound by Zaehnsdorf in full russet brown morocco in a Grolieresque strapwork design, with the covers tooled in an interlaced framework of double gilt lines, woven together into a tall, symmetrical lattice and anchored within a filleted border, the interlace surrounding and defining a large central reserve while small fleur-de-lis and arabesque flourishes punctuate the field as accents. Five bands to spine with title and date to second and third compartments, small gilt fleurons and arabesques to remaining compartments. Gilt rolled turn-ins, brown metallic endpapers, top edge gilt, limitation page, half-title, tipped-in frontispiece by Walter Crane, title-page printed in red and black, rear index. Printed in Great Britain by William Clowes. Condition: NEAR FINE. Binding tight and secure, the hinges and joints perfectly intact. Covers with a trivial trace of mottling, the points faintly rubbed. Interior remaining fresh and clean, with a bookplate verso front endpaper. A most attractive copy.
Notes: First edition, large paper copy. "The large paper edition of this book consisting of fifty copies, all of which are numbered and signed, was printed in February, 1883. This is No. 27." Signed by "Wm. Clowes & Sons." on limitation page. The attractive tipped-in frontispiece is by artist Walter Crane, in the style of Dürer. This edition containing fine examples from contemporary poets, including Alfred Lord Tennyson, Algernon Swinburne, Christina Rossetti, Robert Browning and William Morris, among several others. Beautifully bound by Zaehnsdorf in full russet brown morocco with an intricate Grolieresque strapwork design, gilt-stamped signed on the front turn-in.
