1850 – The Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant
 
Antiquarian Illustrated Hardback | Green Gilt Cloth | Memoir by Rufus W. Griswold
 
Book Overview
 
A beautifully presented 1850 edition of The Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant, featuring a frontispiece engraving of the poet, and an illustrated title page depicting “Fatima.” This edition is part of the Select Series, and includes a memoir by Rufus W. Griswold, a prominent literary figure of the 19th century. Published by George Slater, 252 Strand, London.
 
Bound in green cloth boards with gilt panels and decorative tooling to both covers, and gilt titles and embellishments to the spine. This is a decorative and well-preserved early Victorian edition, now over 170 years old.
 
Exterior Condition
 
Bound in green cloth with gilt panelled boards and decorative gilt tooling.
Embossed gilt motifs on boards and spine.
Yellow pastedowns and endpapers.
All edges gilt.
Intact and robust.
Light wear consistent with age: small rips at the top and bottom of the spine and a small split at the long edge of the spine, where it adjoins the front board; bumping and small tears to corners.
Slight rubbing and fading to spine.
Some small marks and light staining to the boards.
Please see photos for close-up condition.
 
Interior Condition
 
Pages are very lightly tanned, consistent with age.
Yellow pastedowns and endpapers intact.
Very occasional very small or light marks, light foxing, or small creases.
Somewhat heavier foxing to the preliminary pages but not obscuring the text.
Overall neat and clean throughout.
Small rip to bottom of page 64–65 (text unaffected).
Extremely small edge rip on page 121 (text unaffected).
Some rips and wear on the bottom edge of page 221 and overleaf (see photos of pages 221 and 222).
Very light/partial crack between front pastedown and front free endpaper, and between flyleaf and title.
All pages remain tightly bound except for minor looseness at described points.
No pen or pencil writing observed.
All 250 pages are present.
 
Measurements
 
This is a small “pocket-sized” book, and the approximate dimensions are: 12.8 cm × 8.8 cm × 2.2 cm
Weight: 132 grams
 
Historical and Literary Context
 
William Cullen Bryant (1794 - 1878) was one of the foremost American poets of the early 19th century. Known for his lyric poems and his embrace of nature and Romanticism, Bryant was a pivotal literary figure in both American poetry and journalism. He was the longtime editor of the New York Evening Post and a key influence on the development of American literary identity.
 
This edition, published in London, brought his verse to a British audience and is notable for being part of the Select Series, which aimed to present popular American authors in attractive gift-book formats, often featuring fine bindings, frontispiece portraits, and elegant page design. The inclusion of a memoir by Rufus W. Griswold, editor, critic, and compiler of American literary anthologies, adds further bibliographic interest.
 
About the Author
 
American poet and editor who helped shape early 19th-century American literature.
 
Is this a Special or Significant Edition?
 
Yes. While not a first edition of Bryant's poetry, this British-published edition is an early and attractively bound example. The Select Series was an effort to canonise transatlantic literary culture, and this 1850 printing, with illustrations and a memoir, would have been considered a refined gift book or collector's volume.