The Poetical Works.: Edited by Mrs. Shelley.

London: Edward Moxon,, 1839. Wordsworth family copies First collected edition of Shelley's complete poems, compiled by his wife Mary. This set has an attractive provenance, from the libraries of two of William Wordsworth's nephews: first John Wordsworth (1805-1839), with his ownership inscription and ex-libris stamp on the front free endpaper of each volume, and then Charles Wordsworth (1806-1892), with his posthumous presentation bookplate on the front pastedowns. John and Charles were the sons of Christopher Wordsworth (1774-1846), the younger brother of the poet and the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1820 to 1841. John, the elder brother, won a scholarship to his father's college in 1824, was elected to a fellowship there in 1830, and was ordained deacon and priest by the Bishop of Ely in 1837. While preparing a new edition of his poems in 1838, William Wordsworth praised John as "the most accurate man I know", writing to his publisher Edward Moxon that he was "in hopes that my nephew, Mr. John Wordsworth, of Cambridge, will correct the proofs... if a revise of each sheet could be sent to him, the edition would be immaculate" (Grosart, vol. III, p. 358). Around this time, however, John's health began to fail, and he died in Cambridge on 31 December 1839. Following his death, his uncle paid tribute to him as "a most amiable man, and I have reason to believe one of the best scholars in Europe. We were all strongly attached to him" (ibid.). The present set then passed into the library of John's younger brother Charles. While a student at Christ Church, Charles founded the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, captaining the winning Oxford team during the first race in 1829. Following a long career as a tutor - his students included future prime minister William Gladstone - he was elected Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld, and Dunblane in 1852. This set was then given to St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth, where Charles's episcopal see was located; his bookplate, with his coat of arms, notes that the books were "Presented by Bishop Wordsworth's family" to St Ninian's, likely after his death in 1892. Mary Shelley's edition of her husband's poetical works established him finally and irreversibly amongst the great poets of the English language. Shelley's sonnet "To Wordsworth", in which he praises his Romantic forebear as "a lone star, whose light did shine / On some frail bark in winter's midnight roar", is included in vol. III, p. 13. Four volumes, octavo. Original brown cloth, spines lettered in gilt, covers panelled with arabesque decorations in blind, top and fore edges uncut, bottom edges trimmed, yellow coated endpapers. Engraved portrait frontispiece, with tissue-guard. Spines lightly chipped at head, front joint of vol. IV discreetly repaired. A very good set, largely unopened. Dunbar, Shelley Studies 345; Granniss 88; Wise, p. 87. Alexander B. Grosart, The Prose Works of William Wordsworth, 3 vols, 1876.