Love in Earnest: Sonnets, Ballades, and Lyrics
London: Elliot Stock (1892). 230pp.
Item #8986
The author's first published collection of poems, an elusive collection of Uranian verse extolling the virtues of boys. The Petrachan sonnets chronicle the love for a boy over an extended period of time and are among the best of Uranian poetry.
The second issue of the first edition, the first having been the subject of fulminations by Frederick Rolfe for the use of one of his own poems (St. William of Norwich on p. 164) and withdrawn after publication. A very good copy in half-parchment and floral fabric, boards lightly worn, spine and endpapers a bit darkened and slightly marked, a few small stains to cover, hinges a bit weak. Warmly inscribed by the author to F.H. Whitehouse "in memory of days at Rydal Mount from his affectionate friend/July 29, 1892." The recipient was perhaps one of Nicholson's young football-playing protégés. Quite rare. Second state, lacking pp. 163-164 (i.e. the poems 'The Boyhood of Raleigh' and 'St. William of Norwich'), some toning to endpapers, top edge gilt, original Japanese vellum-backed patterned boards, spine toned and rubbed at ends, small splits at head of joints, edges a little rubbed, snall crease on front cover.
Price: $2,800.00