The Lives of Dr John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr Richard Hooker, Mr George Herbert To which have been added some Letters written by Mr George Herbert, at his being in Cambridge; with others to his Mother, the Lady Magdelen Herbert, written by John Donne, afterwards Dean of St Pauls. by WALTON, Izaak - 1670

London: Printed at The Newcomb for Richard Marriott. Sold by most booksellers. 1670, 1670. First Edition. 8vo. pp. [16], 88, 79, [1], 56, 77-140, 104. 4 plates. A8 blank in the Life of Donne. The usual jump in pagination from 56-77 in the Life of Hooker and F2 for H2 and F4 for H4. Each section has a frontispiece portrait and the Lives of Hooker, Wotton and Herbert have individual title pages in addition to the general title page. On page 88 (G4v), at the end of An Elegy on Dr Donne, "Iz. Wee" is printed for Walton's signature. The "-ee" has been altered by hand (possibly by Walton himself) to "-a" so as to read, correctly "Iz. Wa." Bound in the nineteenth century in full blue morocco with gilt decoration and border on upper and lower covers. Five raised bands, six compartments lavishly decorated in gilt. Author and title in gilt in second compartment and place and date of publication in the third compartment. Heavily decorated gilt inner dentelles stamped at the foot of the upper cover "bound by F. Bedford". All edges gilt. Marbled end papers. This is a very fine binding in superb condition with only the very slightest rubbing at the hinges. The contents are in equally good condition. Bookplate of Lord Kennet of the Dene. A beautiful book. Fine This is the first edition of Walton's collected lives of four of the most important of the English poets and divines of the seventeenth century. An earlier version of Walton's Life of Wotton was published as part of "Reliquiæ Wottonianæ" in 1651. Walton's Elegy of Donne was first published in the 1633 edition of Donne's Poems, and the Life in the edition of Donne's LXXX Sermons in 1640. The Life of Hooker was published in 1665 and the Life of George Herbert has was first published as a separate work in the same year as this collected edition. ESTC, R15317. Wing, W671. Pforzheimer, 1056. Keynes, G. Donne (4th ed.), 61