Hyperion: A Romance. Illustrated with Nearly One Hundred Engravings on Wood, from Drawings by Birket Foster (1884). WITH AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM MYLES BIRKET FOSTER TO THE BROTHERS DALZIEL. Sold with: Birket Foster’s Pictures of English Landscape. Engraved by the Brothers Dalziel with Pictures in Words by Tom Taylor. India Proofs (1881). EDWARD DALZIEL’S COPY, PRESENTED TO JENNIE DALZIEL

Description

PICTURES OF ENGLISH LANDSCAPE: original full vellum over bevelled boards. Boards decorated in gilt, red, and brown, with oak and ivy motifs. Moderate soiling to vellum. Spine is rubbed; traces of gilt-blocking remain. Chipping to top spine. Folio (29×39.4cm). Top edges trimmed; others deckled. Toning to page edges. Hinges sound. Mild offset browning to free endpapers. Bookplate of Edward Dalziel (1817-1905) to inside front board. Limited edn of 1000 copies, plus unnumbered presentation copies, of which this is one, inscribed (presumably by Edward Dalziel) to ‘Jennie Dalziel’ (his daughter). 30 plates hand-press printed on India paper, each preceded by a leaf with one of Taylor’s poems. A very few flecks of foxing. HYPERION: Original navy blue cloth over bevelled boards, ornate gilt & blind decor to boards, gilt lettering & decor to spine. Cover design by John Leighton. Slight sunning & cocking to spine. Mild wear to extremities; board corners slightly pushed in. 8vo. All edges gilt. Endpapers starting at gutters. Hinges slightly slack. Crack at gutter at pp.178-9. Pictorial bookplate to inside rear board. Bookplate of Edward Dalziel to inside front board; signature of his son Gilbert Dalziel (1853-1930) to verso of front free endpaper. Tipped-in to ffep of Hyperion is a 2pp. autograph letter from Myles Birket Foster (1825-99) to the Dalziel brothers. Addressed from a hotel in north Wales & dated 18th Sept. 1881, the letter reads: ‘Your letter has followed me here. When you kindly sent me the copies I was just starting for a tour north so that I have not had the opportunity of actually comparing the two impressions – but I feel certain from what I remember of the first that these are quite as good and I doubt not much better – what can I do? I am away for 3 weeks longer write me a line by return here – the thing is absurd & seems spiteful. / The other papers I’ve seen are most complementary’. Single underline to ‘actually’; double underline to ‘spiteful’. The letter is likely referring to the 1881 India proof edition of Pictures, as sold here. This had first been published in 1862, with the de luxe India proof edition coming 19 years later. The Dalziels were proud of both: Foster ‘gave us such beautiful drawings, so exquisitely manipulated, that we naturally bestowed infinite care in their reproduction’ (1901, ‘The Brothers Dalziel; A Record’, p. 142). The 1881 edition was in general well-received: ‘there is nothing in this volume that appears ill done or old-fashioned’ (The Academy, Sept 10, 1881, No. 488, p. 205). A good candidate for the critical review Foster is responding to here, however, is the 10 Sept. review in The Graphic: while praising the volume’s ‘really sumptuous “get up”‘, the reviewer concludes: ‘The truth is, the “India proofs” ought to have been published first, before the blocks had suffered from wear and tear of printing. No amount of fine paper, and careful manipulation by the printer, will disguise the blemishes of a worn block; and that these blocks are worn there can be little doubt’ (p. 278). The Dalziels may have appealed to Foster because he had a – perhaps unique – India proof edition from 1863 (currently on the market elsewhere), a presentation copy to him from the Dalziels which would have afforded the best comparison available with the 1881 India proof edn. Their account of the 1881 edn in A Record takes care to record that Foster himself was delighted with the volume, reproducing a letter from him dated 31st Aug: ‘My dear Dalziel,-Accept my best thanks for the three copies of the ‘English Landscapes.’ It is really a splendid volume, admirably printed, and the get-up is altogether charming’. Hyperion itself has no connection to the Dalziels, but its illustrations are notable for Foster having undertaken a sketching tour of Germany, Switzerland, & the Austrian Tyrol to prepare them, travelling together with their engraver, Vizetelly. Robust packaging. Tracking is always added to USA orders. It can be added to other overseas orders on request.