"A SONNET IS A MOMENT'S MONUMENT": DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI'S POEMS, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED

ROSSETTI, Dante Gabriel. The Poems of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. With Illustrations from His Own Pictures and Designs. London: Ellis & Elvey, 1904. Two volumes. Small quarto, contemporary full black morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines and covers, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. $2200.

Illustrated collected edition of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's passionate poetry, including his beautiful love story "The Blesssed Damozel" and his acclaimed romantic sonnet sequence, "The House of Life," with 20 lovely photogravures after Rossetti's own drawings and paintings, beautifully bound in full morocco-gilt by Riviere & Son.

"A superb poet… From his earliest contributions to The Germ [a pre-Raphaelite literary magazine]… to the last unpublished poems collected by his brother, his strange genius is evident" (Kunitz & Haycraft, 534-45). "Since the 1960s the value of Rossetti's paintings has soared, and the images of Jane Morris in particular have been prominent in the public imagination as characteristically Pre-Raphaelite. But Rossetti has remained much better known for his poetry" (ODNB). Volume I contains "The Blessed Damozel" and longer poems; Volume II includes "The House of Life" and shorter works. Bookplate of Cortlandt F. Bishop, pioneering American aviator, balloonist, driver, as well as a renowned bibliophile.

Fine condition, a beautifully bound and illustrated set.