The Bruce
Presentation Copy of Rossetti's Early Italian Poets
Rossetti, D[ante]. G[abriel]. (transl.),
THE EARLY ITALIAN POETS FROM CIULLO D'ALCAMO TO DANTE
ALIGHIERI: (1100-1200-1300) IN THE ORIGINAL METRES TOGETHER WITH
DANTE'S VITA NUOVA (London: Smith Elder & Co., 1861).
First edition, 18 x 12cm (8vo), rebound w/new russet ep.s in black
diaper-grain cloth w/most of the original dark olive rib-grain cloth
laid down, w/gilt title & design (by the author) to covers &
spine, a.e. untrimmed, [i-vi] vii-xxxvi, [1] 2-464, [1-2 Errata &
announcement of DGR's forthcoming Dante at Verona and Other Poems]
pp. Printed by Whittingham & Wilkins at the Chiswick Press,
London. Inscribed in ink to half-title: "To Mrs William
Bruce with kind regards- D.G. Rossetti 1864," below which "A.M. Bruce
1866" & "A.H. Martin 78" are inscr. in pencil. This copy
corresponds with Colbeck 4, in which p.352 is misnumbered "252";
however, B2 B6 E6 F2 H1 H4 & DD5, which are pasted into most
copies, appear to be sewn into this one. Binding Very Good
(moderate rubbing to cloth); contents Very Good (sl. creasing to a few
leaves, & lt. marginal dampstains to pp.131-160, 193-206 &
290-300). Athenæum 22 Feb. 1862 pp.253-54 (by H.C.
Barlow), Slater 2, Rossetti 9, Vaughan 11, Ashley IV 113, Ehrsam &
Deily 219, Fredeman 23.3, Fennell 19, Ball 159, Colbeck 4. (Inv.
#661) C$2,500
Provenance: Gifted by the author in 1864 to Mrs. William
Bruce; thence in 1866 to her daughter Anna Mary Bruce (b.1846); A.H.
Martin by 1878.
The original recipient, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth née
Conybeare Bruce (ca.1818-1866), was the daughter of the Dean of
Llandaff & the wife of Canon William Bruce, who in 1869 approved
Rossetti's request to retouch his Llandaff Cathedral reredos (see DGR
as Designer & Writer 1889, p.67); she was also the
sister-in-law of Sir Henry Austin Bruce, a friend of Rossetti's
since 1856. In 1862, in a fit of profound remorse & sadness,
Rossetti buried his manuscript poems, which were to be published as Dante
at Verona and Other Poems, with his recently-deceased wife.
In Sept. 1869, after being convinced by a few friends that he should
publish his lost poetry, Rossetti wrote to Sir Henry personally
requesting his legal consent for Elizabeth Siddal Rossetti's exhumation
in order to retrieve his manuscript notebook. This remarkable
copy, dedicated to Rossetti's wife & advertising his forthcoming
but soon abandoned edition of poetry, was presented to the
sister-in-law of the man whose later consent for the exhumation made
such an edition (Poems 1870) possible.
