ROBERT BROWNING FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
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UNITED KINGDOM

London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1872. First edition. Don Juan discourses to his wife on the attractions of a gipsy dancer. “The whole of Mr. Browning’s poem ... is an illustration of his text that the life of man is an error lived by the help of truth, a life of falsehood which implies the need and capacity for reality, a life of illusion grounded and fulfilled in some ultimate perception of true being, a life of endless yearning after that which always eludes and yet always inspires us ... This is the theme which Mr. Browning pursues through many a page of his eccentric, caustic, abrupt, business-like passion, into something like a philosophy of love, of beauty, of art, and even of faith” (from the original “Spectator” review).
Foolscap 8vo (18cm). xii,(172)pp. Original red-brown cloth over bevelled boards, ruled in black on upper and lower cover and spine, blocked and lettered in gilt on spine; grey endpapers; a touch dulled; very faint wear to extremities; mild spotting of endpapers, but a very good copy. Wise 15.

£25

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London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1876. First edition. Prologue, epilogue, and seventeen poems, including “At the Mermaid”, “Natural Magic”, “St. Martin’s Summer”, etc.
Foolscap 8vo (18cm). viii,(242),[ii]pp. Original pink-grey cloth, ruled in black on upper and lower covers, and ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; grey endpapers; a few slight spots, but a very good and bright copy. With the bookplate and dated 1876 ownership inscription of Alfred Erskine Gathorne-Hardy (1845-1918), M.P. for Canterbury and later East Grinstead.

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London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1880. First edition. Echetlos, Clive, Muleykeh, Pietro of Abano, Doctor – , and Pan and Luna.
Foolscap 8vo (18cm). [viii],(150),[ii]pp. Original dark brown cloth, ruled on upper and lower cover in black; ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; grey endpapers; a few slight spots, but a very good and bright copy indeed. With the bookplate and contemporary (1880) ownership inscription of Alfred Erskine Gathorne-Hardy (1845-1918), M.P. for Canterbury and later East Grinstead.

£40

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London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1884. First edition. Prologue, epilogue and twelve connected fancies – Browning adopting the persona of a Persian soothsayer to cover various religious and moral topics.
Foolscap 8vo (18cm). [viii],(144),[viii]pp. Original deep olive cloth, blocked on upper cover in black; ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; grey endpapers; very lightly worn and slightly darkened; front endpaper a little strained; a few internal marks and spots, but still a good and partly unopened copy.

£25

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London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1887. First edition. The major work of Browning’s later years – literary and historical dialogues with Bernard de Mandeville, Daniel Bartoli, Christopher Smart, George Bubb Dodington, Francis Furini, Gerard de Lairesse, and Charles Avison.
Foolscap 8vo (18cm). [viii],268,[iv]pp. Original red-brown cloth, ruled in black on upper cover, and in blind on lower cover; ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; grey endpapers; some very minor rubbing to extremities, occasional slight spotting, but a very good, bright and largely unopened copy.

£40

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