DON JUAN; HOURS OF IDLENESS; ENGLISH BARDS AND SCOTCH REVIEWERS; THE WALTZ; AND OTHER POEMS

London: J. F. Dove, 1828. 138 x 88 mm. (5 1/2 x 3 1/2"). Two volumes..
VERY PRETTY CONTEMPORARY BURGUNDY MOROCCO, GILT, BY BAQUIÉ (stamp-signed in gold at foot of spine), covers with thick and thin gilt-rule border enclosing a blind-stamped floral roll frame and large central panel formed by multiple gilt rules with spiraling acanthus leaf cornerpieces, very wide raised bands decorated with scrolling acanthus leaves accented with small tools and flanked by thick and thin gilt fillets, gilt titling and turn-ins, all edges gilt. Each volume with engraved frontispiece depicting a scene from "Don Juan," the main figure in both of these illustrations bearing a striking resemblance to the poet. First volume with front pastedown ex-libris shelf label of M. Ladenburg; front free endpaper of same volume with ink presentation inscription dated 19 April 1844 (names have been erased). See Day, "History of English Literature 1660-1837," pp. 402-6. ◆Very minor soiling and faint traces of leather preservative to covers, frontispieces rather foxed and with offsetting from them onto title pages (because of paper stock), but A VERY PRETTY SET in otherwise fine condition, the bindings bright and attractive on the shelf, and the text (on very good paper) entirely clean, smooth, and fresh.

This is a charming little set, showing few signs of use, that contains several of Byron's best-known works, including his masterpiece "Don Juan," originally published in parts from 1811 to 1819. In that work, the fictional hero, the Spaniard Don Juan, is forced to undertake a journey (partly based on episodes from Byron's own turbulent life) that finds him in Greece, Turkey, and Russia as well as into and out of the arms of a succession of women. A composition marked by supple versification that is sunnier than much of his previous poetry, it is a work characterized by Day as "the greatest English verse epic since 'Paradise Lost.'" The name "Baquié" at the foot of the spine must surely be that of the binder (and surely he was French), but he does not appear in Ramsden, Beraldi, Flety, or Thoinan, and no binder by that name is found in online auction records. The design is elegant (while not more so than the contents deserve) and has the effect of making the small volumes seem significantly larger than they are. In any case, the execution is first rate and the condition matches it..