Poems and Italy, A Poem

London: Edward Moxon, 1851-1852. Leather. Very Good. 8" by 5.5". None. Two uniformly-bound collections of the poetry of Samuel Rogers. Containing an anthology of poetry (Poems by Samuel Rogers, 1851) and his long poem Italy (1852). Samuel Rogers (1763 – 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. In 1814 Rogers travelled through Switzerland to Italy, keeping a full diary of events and impressions, Out of the earlier of these tours arose his last and longest work, Italy. The first part was published anonymously in 1822; the second, with his name attached, in 1828. It was at first a failure, but Rogers was determined to make it a success. He enlarged and revised the poem, and commissioned illustrations from J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Stothard and Samuel Prout. These were engraved on steel in the sumptuous edition of 1830. The book then proved a great success, and Rogers followed it up with an equally sumptuous edition of his Poems (1834) Each with frontispiece engraved portraits and engraved illustrations throughout the text. Binder's stamps of J. Wright to front pastedowns. In decorative green morocco binding with gilt detailing. Externally smart, with a little rubbing. Internally, firmly bound. Ink signatures to recto of front free-endpaper. Pages have some light foxing throughout. Very Good