1806 The Works of Alexander Pope in Verse and Prose

Description

Original Binding

Edited by Rev. William Lisle Bowles. Pope (1688 1744) was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. These volumes contain all of Pope's major works, including The Dunciad, Pastorals, Eloisa to Abelard, The Rape of the Lock and Essay on Man. The editor, Willliam Bowles Lisle, is best known for compiling this set, publishing "a ten-volume edition of the work of Alexander Pope with a sketch of his life and strictures on his poetry. His comments on the poet's life were written in a severe, even hostile spirit. Bowles's estimate of Pope as a poet gave rise to a long controversy." (ODNB) Additional material added here to Pope's opera includes a biography, literary criticism and excerpts from his letters. Volume I features a frontispiece portrait of Pope. With the bookplate of one E.H. Greenly to pastedown. Direct from the Regency library of Elizabeth Greenly, later Lady Elizabeth Coffin Greenly. Elizabeth Greenly, born at Titley Court, Herefordshire, was a noted and varied collector. She kept prolific diaries from 1784 until her death in 1839 which included her responses to current events and occasions in her daily life. Among the diaries many names and anecdotes of celebrities of the time appear, including Lord Byron, Marie Antoniette, Mary Wollstonecraft and Hannah More. She was known to comment on customs of foreign countries to which she and her friends had travelled, and had a keen interest in scientific discoveries and advancements including medicine and archaeology. The Greenly library contents show Elizabeth Greenly's numerous interests including: Welsh causes, Science, topography, travel, Bibliana and literature, particularly female poets. The library contains many first editions of contemporary works, and many are signed or contain her bookplate. The library contained over 1000 volumes which show the diversity and depth of her interests and give an insight into the life of this fascinating collector. These works come directly from the sale of the Titley Court estate. Complete in 10 volumes.