first edition
1796 · London
by Fuseli, Henry.
Folio. London: W. Bulmer, 1796. Folio, 89 pp. With a frontispiece, 2 plates, and several illustrations in the text. Original blue boards, printed label on upper cover, slightly foxed here and there but generally a fine untrimmed copy as issued. § First edition, one of a tiny number of large-paper copies. Only one other copy has been located (in the Essick collection, Fuseli’s copy). The frontispiece is a stipple-engraving proof before all letters by Benedetti after the painting by Fuseli and is one of the largest book illustrations after Fuseli—it measures almost 12 x 7 inches. The poems memorialize the death of Boothby’s daughter Penelope at the age of five and include a laudatory reference to Fuseli; Boothby was a member of the Lichfield literary circle and was immortalised in a portrait by Joseph Wright of Derby. Weinglass 139. (Inventory #: 10982)