The Works

THE

POETICAL WORKS

OF

THOMAS CHATTERTON

WITH

Notices of his Life

HISTORY OF THE ROWLEY CONTROVERSY,

A SELECTION OF HIS LEETERS,

AND NOTES CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY

C A M B R I D G E :

W. P. GRANT

MDCCCXLII

DESCRIPTION

(ii) + clxvii + 320 + (ii)

(ii) + 321 - 728 + (ii)

Books measure 165mm x 110mm approximately.

Bound in full contemporary tan calf. Spines with single gilt-ruled compartment with further gilt decoration and black title label, with volume to foot. Single gilt fillet border to all boards. Marbled paste-downs and end-papers, with page edges also marbled. Includes three interesting fold-out facsimiles from the British Library.

CONDITION

The bindings are all holding firm but a little loose. Volume II cracked internally along the end-paper and altogether a little looser. Spine and boards are in good condition overall, with general wear and rubbing to hinges scuffs to board edges, the odd mark, and surface scratches, one deep to vol II front board, and with variable bumping to corners. Some small losses of leather to board corners and edges. Internally the pages are generally quite clean with uniform toning throughout and the occasional spot or foxing patch towards end-papers. The facsimile fold-outs each has a small closed tear but with no missing content.

A nice and interesting set of Chatterton's works.

INTERESTING

Thomas Chatterton (1752 to 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge.

Although fatherless and raised in poverty, Chatterton was an exceptionally studious child, publishing mature work by the age of 11. He was able to pass off his work as that of an imaginary 15th-century poet called Thomas Rowley, chiefly because few people at the time were familiar with medieval poetry, though he was denounced by Horace Walpole.

At 17, he sought outlets for his political writings in London, having impressed the Lord Mayor, William Beckford, and the radical leader John Wilkes, but his earnings were not enough to keep him, and he poisoned himself in despair. His unusual life and death attracted much interest among the romantic poets, and Alfred de Vigny wrote a play about him that is still performed today. The oil painting The Death of Chatterton by Pre-Raphaelite artist Henry Wallis has enjoyed lasting fame.

Chatterton conceived the romance of Thomas Rowley, an imaginary monk of the 15th century, and adopted for himself the pseudonym Thomas Rowley for poetry and history. The persona was a complex interweaving of his upbringing by his Mother and Sister and his desire for a masculine hero. He imagined he would become a famous poet who by his talents would be able to rescue his mother from poverty.

Chatterton's death is much remarked. While walking along St Pancras Churchyard and much absorbed in thought, Chatterton took no notice of an open grave, newly dug in his path, and subsequently tumbled into it. His walking companion helped Chatterton and told him in a jocular manner that he was happy in assisting at the resurrection of genius. Chatterton replied, "My dear friend, I have been at war with the grave for some time now." Chatterton died by suicide three days later.