WORCESTER FIELD; OR, THE CAVALIER. A POEM IN FOUR CANTOS

London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, [1826]. FIRST EDITION. 176 x 105 mm. (7 x 4 1/8"). 2 p.l., 163, [1] pp.
Publisher's blue paper boards and tan canvas backstrip, spine with original printed paper label, UNTRIMMED EDGES. INK PRESENTATION INSCRIPTION ON FRONT FLYLEAF, "Miss Dobbel / with the Authoress's Comp[limen]ts." Bookplate of Simon Nowell-Smith on front pastedown. One ink correction on p. 159, very possibly by the author. Shattock, "Oxford Guide to British Women Writers," pp. 411-12. Corners bumped and exposed, boards vaguely soiled and chafed, paper label a bit abraded (with some letters indistinct); internally very fine--exceptionally fresh and clean, and with vast margins. A most attractive copy.

This excellent fully contemporary copy of Agnes Strickland's first work includes a presentation inscription from the author, and is from a major 20th century collection. Strickland (1796-1874) is best remembered for her historical writings, particularly biographies of queens, in collaboration with her sister Elizabeth (1794-1875), but she began her career by publishing poems. She and her sisters had been educated by their father, who believed that girls should receive the same education as boys. Shattock writes that Strickland had a talent for historical research, with a "phenomenal energy in locating and using original sources," and this historian's instinct is already evident in the present early romance of the English Civil War. "Worcester Field" is a Walter Scott-inspired story of two young lovers, Clara and the Cavalier De Lacy, set during the 1651 Battle of Worcester. Strickland had written it as a teen and read it to her father (and tutor) shortly before his death, then subsequently published it by subscription. DNB tells us that this poetic work, and "The Seven Ages of Woman," published the following year, "served as publicity for [Strickland's] future work." We have not been able to trace the "Miss Dobbel" to whom this copy is inscribed; she was likely among Strickland's wide circle of friends and correspondents. Sometime after leaving Miss Dobbel, our copy came into the possession of Simon Nowell-Smith (1909-96), British author, bibliographer, and collector. Nowell-Smith, who served as secretary and librarian of the London Library from 1950-56, Lyell Lecturer in Bibliography at the University of Oxford from 1965-66, and president of the Bibliographical Society from 1962-64, built up three major collections throughout his career. The final one of these collections was of 19th and 20th century British poetry, with a particular focus on inscribed copies, such as ours. Our first edition of "Worcester Field" is rarely seen on the market--we have been able to trace only a single copy at auction since 1918--and the present copy, inscribed and in its original publisher's binding, is a particularly precious find..