Earlier and Later Leaves: or, an Autumn gathering

Belfast, Ireland: W.H. Greer, 1878. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. A delightful copy in octavo format, gilt portrait frontis, at xxvii + 638 pp. Original publisher's blind-stamped green cloth, gilt device to front over, lettering and illustration to spine. Toning to pastedown and other endpapers, bumped spine head and foot, else just about rock-solid. This copy has the original publisher's name laid over by a printed W.H. Green name and address, but also with the tell-tale little dealer stamp of Allen & Johnston, Bookbinders, Belfast inside front flap at bottom near gutter. Francis Davis was born the son of a soldier in Ballincollig, County Cork. A Wikipedia entry about him notes that his father was a Presbyterian from the north of Ireland, while his mother, Jane MacFee, was from Belfast. His father fought in the Napoleonic wars, his mother died when he was young, he was consigned to drudge-work at a loom as an apprentice, and when his father died he left for Belfast. He made a living as a weaver and poet thereafter. He was fluent in French, Latin, Greek and Gaelic, in addition to English. A handsome copy on the shelf.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.