Don Juan Volume I (1828) Lord Byron – Early Edition – Finden Frontispiece
 
Early 1828 edition of Don Juan, Volume I only, by Lord Byron, with Finden frontispiece and provenance inscription for Rev. William Delabene Marsden.
 
Features
Early 19th-century edition (1828)
Volume I only of two-volume set
Illustrated frontispiece by E. Finden after R. Westall
Provenance: Rev. William Delabene Marsden
Original quarter-paper and cloth binding
Compact pocket-sized format
 
Bibliographic Details
Title: Don Juan (Volume I only)
Author: Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron)
Publication Year: 1828 (MDCCCXXVIII)
Publisher/Printer: Thomas Davison, Whitefriars, London
Edition Status: Early collected edition; not the first edition of the work
Format: Small 12mo
Pagination: 343 pages
Illustration: Engraved frontispiece by E. Finden after R. Westall
Language: English
 
About the Book
Don Juan is one of Byron’s greatest poetic achievements – bold, comic, satirical, and unfinished at his death in 1824. Issued originally in parts between 1819-1824, this 1828 volume represents an early posthumous collected edition, printed only four years after Byron’s death.
This example contains Volume I only. It embodies the close contemporary reading culture around Byron and the early dissemination of his controversial poem.
 
About the Author – Lord Byron (1788–1824)
Major Romantic poet known for narrative verse, satire, and tumultuous life; central figure of Romanticism.
 
About the Illustrator & Engraver
R. Westall – respected painter and illustrator of literary subjects, frequent collaborator on Byron works
E. Finden – leading steel-engraver of the period, renowned for literary portrait frontispieces
Their pairing is bibliographically significant and sought after by collectors of illustrated Byron editions.
 
Provenance – Rev. William Delabene Marsden
Inscription on front free endpaper:
“William Delabene Marsden”
Research indicates:
Born 1812
Died 1866 in Louth, Lincolnshire
Clergyman; recorded as curate in census records
Will proved 7 September 1866 in Lincoln
Executors included Emily Sophia Marsden (widow) and Frederick Septimus Tate (surgeon)
This constitutes documented clerical provenance, enhancing research value and interest.
 
Exterior Condition
Original quarter binding
brown paper over boards
green cloth to spine and inner edges
Printed label to spine (rubbed, with tears)
Board-textblock connection weak – almost disbound
Spine still holding boards together
Light rubbing and fading
Bumping to corners
General handling wear consistent with age
 
Interior Condition
Frontispiece loose but present
Pages tanned, roughly cut / uneven edges
Repeated reading evident
Partial tears at inner margins on some pages (not affecting text)
Small edge tears occasional
Large crack to gutter at:
pastedown area
near title page
Several further light gutter cracks
pp. 325–343 partially loose at top inner margin but attached
No missing pages
Historic inscription present
Text remains clean and legible
 
Physical Details
Approx. 15.2 × 10.2 × 2.3 cm
Weight approx. 230 g