c1895 The Choice Works Of Thomas Hood Antique British Prose & Verse Book

c1895 The Choice Works Of Thomas Hood Antique British Prose & Verse BookThe Choice Works Of Thomas Hood In Prose And VerseBy Thomas HoodPublished by E.W. Cole: Melbourne c1895 (undated)"Thomas Hood (1799 - 1845) was an English poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt". Hood wrote regularly for The London Magazine, Athenaeum, and Punch. He later published a magazine largely consisting of his own works. Hood, never robust, had lapsed into invalidism by the age of 41 and died at the age of 45. William Michael Rossetti in 1903 called him "the finest English poet" between the generations of Shelley and Tennyson. Hood was the father of the playwright and humorist Tom Hood (1835-1874) and the children's writer Frances Freeling Broderip (1830-1878)."General wear to cover and spine as shown with a split beginning on the outer, rear spine hinge. Small inscription to front endpaper. Pages age toned but otherwise clean. 2 copies available at time of listing. Price is for superior copy. This listing, including photos, is of the inferior copy so please make a reasonable offer below the asking price to secure a good deal. Please study photos to understand condition.Size 19cm x 14cm x 3.5cm - 775 Pages

c1875 Poetical Works Of Thomas Hood Antique Leather Poetry Book COLONY OF VIC

The Poetical Works Of Thomas Hood.

Edited, With A Critical Memoir,

By William Michael Rossetti

Illustrated by Gustave Dore' and Alfred Thompson.

Second Series

Published by E. Moxon, Son & Company: London c1875 (undated - Prize Plate dated 1879)

In Presentation Leather & Gilt Bindings - Provenance: Ex Colony Of Victoria Prize - Carries 7 Plates/Engravings + Frontis.

" An attractive and substantial Victorian edition of The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Second Series, edited with a critical memoir by William Michael Rossetti and illustrated by the celebrated French artist Gustave Doré, together with Alfred Thompson. Published in London by E. Moxon, Son & Company, this undated edition may be placed circa 1875, certainly prior to the dated 1879 presentation plate preserved at the front. Hood was one of the distinctive voices of nineteenth-century English verse, combining humour and wordplay with darker social and sentimental poetry, while Rossetti's editorial contribution places the volume firmly within the literary culture of later Victorian Britain. The present copy retains its illustrated frontispiece together with seven further full-page plates/engravings, including the dramatic and characteristically atmospheric work associated with Doré.

Of particular importance is the volume's remarkable Australian colonial provenance. Mounted to the front pastedown is an elaborate presentation certificate headed "Commission Appointed by His Excellency The Governor in Council for Technological & Industrial Instruction", recording the "Exhibition of Works of Pupils of Schools of Design, Colony of Victoria 1879." The certificate records that this volume was "Awarded to James Downie - Fourth Prize, Mechanical Drawing - Senior Division." This was no routine school bookplate: Victoria's Commission for Promoting Technological and Industrial Instruction had been established in 1869 to advance technical education among the colony's working population, establishing and supporting more than forty Schools of Design during its existence. Mechanical drawing was one of the Commission's principal disciplines, alongside construction, architectural and decorative drawing, and the schools played an important role in developing the skilled designers, draftsmen and tradesmen required by a rapidly industrialising Victoria.

The 1879 award to James Downie therefore provides a particularly evocative piece of nineteenth-century Victorian educational history. Downie was competing in the Senior Division in Mechanical Drawing, a discipline intended to teach the precise representation of machinery, buildings and other objects before construction; contemporary accounts describe the Commission's schools specifically teaching practical geometry, mechanical and architectural drawing, perspective and related technical subjects. The certificate itself names a fascinating cross-section of prominent colonial figures serving on the Commission, including chairman Samuel Henry Bindon, Rev. John Ignatius Bleasdale, Professor Frederick McCoy, parliamentarian W. M. K. Vale and Inspector of Schools S. H. Roberts. The award thus places this book within the Victorian Government's ambitious nineteenth-century effort to marry art, design, engineering and industry through formal technical education. I have not located evidence securely identifying the subsequent career of this particular James Downie, and accordingly make no unsupported claim beyond the unusually detailed contemporary evidence supplied by his original 1879 prize certificate.

The volume itself is appropriately impressive for such an award, bound in handsome full green leather presentation bindings, with raised bands to the spine, gilt lettering and decoration, ruled borders to the boards and richly gilt-decorated inner dentelles. The binding displays expected rubbing, scuffing and wear from almost 150 years of existence, particularly to the extremities and raised bands, while retaining considerable character; the page edges have attractively mellowed with age and there is scattered internal foxing and toning. Importantly, the original colonial prize certificate remains prominently preserved at the front. Combining Thomas Hood, William Michael Rossetti and Gustave Doré with an unusually specific 1879 Colony of Victoria Government Schools of Design prize provenance, this is far more than simply an illustrated Victorian poetry volume: it is a tangible survivor from the formative years of organised technical and industrial education in colonial Australia."

Light wear to covers and spine as shown. Gilt edging gleams bright. Pages with age tanning but otherwise clean and beautifully presented. Carries a remarkable Colony Of Victoria prize plate. A stunning, presentation copy with excellent provenance in very good condition overall. Please study photos to understand condition.