CHRISTABEL, &C.

London: John Murray, 1816. First Edition, second issuance of the book, same year as the first issuance. 8vo, printer’s original drab wrappers, unbound and untrimmed. vii, 64, (4)pp. ads dated May 1816. An unusually well preserved copy, the wrappers untouched and unrestored, some chipping or loss to the spine panel of the wrapper confined to the lower section, quite clean and showing just occasional age internally. VERY SCARCE IN THE ORIGINAL WRAPPERS UNTRIMMED AND UNBOUND. Coleridge began to write these poems in 1797 in Stowey (Somerset). He wrote ‘Kubla Khan’ after returning from Germany in 1800 and finished the last work, ‘The Pains of Sleep’, shortly before publication. Coleridge states that although it may appear that the metre of ‘Christabel’ is irregular, in truth he has created a new principle--that of counting the accents in each line rather than the syllables. “Though the latter may vary from seven to twelve, yet in each line the accents will be found to be only four. Nevertheless this occasional variation in the number of syllables is not introduced wantonly, or for the mere ends of convenience, but in correspondence with some transition in the nature of the imagery or passion.”
Coleridge wrote the ballad “Christabel”, a tale of spiritual seduction in a medieval castle, as an experiment in English poetry at the encouragement of his good friend Wordsworth. Also included are "Kubla Khan" and "The Pains of Sleep." "Kubla Khan," an unfinished poem, was composed according to Coleridge in an opium-induced sleep, and is to some extent a precursor to symbolism and surrealism. Written after Coleridge quarreled with Wordsworth and moved to London, this book was originally published with Byron's influence.