The Better Land

London, Paris, New York: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., Publishers to Her Majesty the Queen, 1898. Wraps. Near fine. A. SIMPSON, C. KLEIN, etc.. [GIFT BOOK] [NOVELTY BOOK] [POETRY] [RELIGION] [WOMAN AUTHOR]. A. SIMPSON, C. KLEIN, ETC. illustrators.
24mo (5 3/8" x 4"); [16]pp; stiff glazed, color-printed, die-cut and embossed wrapper with deckle edges, flowering plant on front die-cut inside a decorative circle, flowers on rear wrapper; publisher's gilt twist cord binding; gift inscription on the ffep dated "Xmas 1898;" "Trade Mark No. 2639" printed on the title page; decorated title page; lithographic illustrations every page with verse, 4 in color; light staining on ffep, offsetting from the gilt cord where tied, light hand-wear; near fine. OCLC locates 1 copy at Harvard. A small gift or novelty book of the type first made popular in the late 19th century. The author Felicia Dorothea Browne Hemans (1793-1835) was a popular British Romantic-era poet; she talks of the merits of heaven in this poem.