Sonnets from the Portuguese.
San Francisco: John Henry Nash, 1927. Hardcover. 4to. Quarter vellum with gilt spine lettering and beige paper over boards. xxxi, 45pp. Top edge gilt. Frontispiece (with ornamental border, as is title page). Fine. Tiny archival mend to front flyleaf corner. TOGETHER WITH: A fine 16mo 47-page pamphlet "Sonnets" in plain wrappers. Housed in a fine heavy stock slipcase of quarter vellum with gilt spine lettering and beige paper over boards with ribbon pull. Both of these volumes are housed in a very good single slipcase of beige paper over heavy boards with paper spine label. Rubbed and edgeworn and with crude glue mend to one side, but quite sturdy. Item #52245
Handsome pair of this elaborate production "With Some Observations and a Bibliographical Note by William Andrews Clark, Jr." and with dry-point frontispiece by William Wilke based on Helen Hall Culver's bas-relief. Clark's black and red printed "Compliments of / WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK, JR. / Christmas, 1927" tipped to front flyleaf. Colophon at rear of each volume notes limitation of 250 copies "printed for private distribution only" (each numbered 68). Collector and philanthropist Clark (1877-1934) writes in his "Bibliographical Note" that "The editio princeps of the Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1847, was practically unknown until 1886, when some twenty copies were discovered by Dr. W.C. Bennett. It is one of the comparatively scarce books in English literature and is much sought after by Collectors. Although the copy in my library is bound, the little book of 1847 was originally issued stitched and without wrappers, just as the facsimile accompanying this volume shows...." Clark it turns out had been duped and had purchased one of the most famous forgeries of Thomas J. Wise, who had created the spurious 1847 edition out of whole cloth. Carter and Pollard's "Enquiry Into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets" exposing Wise and his forgeries was published in 1934 and Clark died in June of that same year; it's unlikely he ever learned of the deception. Very scarce. O'DAY 53-54.
Price: $400.00