The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem

London: Edward Moxon, 1850. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. First edition. Spine faded, board edges slightly faded, ink gift note and small embossed dealer stamp on front endpaper, a couple pages lightly foxed. Binding tight and square, text clean and unmarked. 1850 Hard Cover. x, 374 pp. The English Romantic poet's account of lyrical growth, imaginative and spiritual development, and maturity. Intended as part of a larger and more ambitious work called The Recluse, which was to discuss man, nature, and society, though the full work was never completed. This 1850 version was the first to be published, three months after his death, and it was given its title by his widow. Scholars study this against an early 1799 version, as well as an 1805 version, but this 1850 edition is likely the version closest to what Wordsworth intended, as he spent over 50 years of his life adding to and revising the text.