Needwood Forest. Written in the year 1776. Never published; [bound with] The Fall of Needwood by MUNDY, Francis Noel Clarke (1738 /1739-1815) - 1811

Derby: Re-printed [Printed] at the Office of J. Drewry, 1811. First Edition. Diced Russia. Fine. 4to: 46; 46pp, with engraved frontispiece facing each title page, engraved by John Landseer (father of the better-known painter Edwin Landseer) after drawings by Mary Emmas Sneyd. Contemporary diced russia, covers stamped in blind with gilt-ruled borders, spine in six compartments elaborately decorated in gilt and in blind; marbled edges and end papers. A superb, wide-margined example in a handsome contemporary binding, rich impressions of the engravings, both pages and plates virtually pristine. Johnson (Provincial Poetry) 643 ("Needwood Forest, with its 'Marvellian affection for trees', earns unusual praise from Aubin."). First Landseer Edition of both titles; Second Edition (overall) of the first title (originally published at Litchfield, in 1776, in an edition 500 copies), First Edition of the second title. Needwood Forest was a large Midlands tract of ancient woodland, commonly associated with Sir Gawain's Green Knight and home to extensive stocks of wolf, wild boar, and fallow deer. In 1776, Mundy privately published his "Needwood Forest," whose purpose was to rally resistance to calls for enclosure of the forest. Then in 1803, Acts of Parliament were passed, allowing the forestry commissioners to enclose the lands and deforest them, which took until 1811 to complete. The poem unfolds in five parts: a description of Mundy's estate, a night-piece, an account of society in the forest, a georgic hunt, and a concluding tribute to the ancient Swilcar Oak. Thus, the first title was written before the Enclosure Act and the second during the process of enclosure. Little is known of Mundy, but presumably he belonged to the literary circle at Lichfield that included the Sir Brooke Boothby, Erasmus Darwin and his son, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, and Anne Seward. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable polypropylene sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to that association's codes of ethics.).