The Poetical Works buying of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Complete [ca. 1870]

New York: James Miller buying, [ca. 1870]. Two volumes. Household edition. 439 + 433 pp. Hardcover.

A collection of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's works, including her masterpiece Aurora Leigh, an epic novel-poem featuring two heroines - Aurora Leigh and Marian Erle. The second volume includes Sonnets from the Portuguese is one of the most romantic collections of English language poetry. Together, the forty-four poems chronicle the author's relationship with poet Robert Browning, whom she was courting at the time, and include the well known Sonnet 43, which begins: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." She originally thought these poems to be too private to publish, but ultimately did so at the behest of her husband.

This book's binding is done in the popular late Victorian Eastlake Style. Espoused by designer Charles Locke Eastlake in Hints on Household Taste (1868), this style favored simple, well-crafted designs adorned with decorative geometric and natural patterns over the more generic, mass-produced products of the Industrial Age. Advances in manufacturing and printing technology allowed publishers to produce attractive books at affordable prices that were popular among members of the newly literate working class. Whereas one used to require a certain degree of wealth to purchase a book (which would have been issued plainly) and then finely bound in a personal style by a binder, these new collectible series allowed less affluent readers to similarly create a cohesive, attractive library at a reasonable rate.

Publisher's decorative cloth, all edges gilt. Near fine, edges very lightly worn, onwership stamp on front endleaves in each volume, otherwise excellent condition.