DONNE, John (1572-1631) - photo 1
DONNE, John (1572-1631) - photo 2

DONNE, John (1572-1631)

Lot 94
09.07.2025 10:30UTC +01:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1450544
Lot 94 | DONNE, John (1572-1631)
Estimate value
£ 7 000 – 10 000
DONNE, John (1572-1631)
Poems. London: M[iles] F[lesher] for John Marriot, 1633.
First edition of John Donne's collected poems: the best and ‘most trustworthy’ (Keynes) of all the 17th-century editions. Most of Donne's poetical work circulated only in manuscript during his life and is collected for the first time in this edition from those manuscript copies two years after his death. According to Keynes, the two leaves with ‘The Printer to the Understanders’ and ‘Hexastichon Bibliopolae’, lacking in this copy, ‘were an afterthought and were inserted only in a portion of the edition, so that their absence is not a defect’.

‘The text of this first edition of Donne's collected Poems does not appear to have been derived from any single source. Grierson and later editors, notably Gardner and Milgate, believe that the original compiler used two sources belonging to the two main groups of surviving manuscripts, but made changes on his own authority and by reference to yet other manuscripts. The resulting text has more authority than any other in print’ (Keynes). Grolier Donne 81; Keynes 78; Pforzheimer 296; STC (2nd ed.) 7045.

Quarto (174 x 129mm). Without ‘The Printer to the Understanders’ and ‘Hexastichon Bibliopolae’, and with the uncancelled, 35-line state of 2N1 (small rust mark on title, 2N1 and 2N4 slightly short, a few signatures and catchwords just trimmed at foot, minor spotting). 19th-century speckled calf by Bedford, spine gilt (expertly rebacked preserving backstrip, extremities a little rubbed, heavier at one corner).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.07.2025 – 09.07.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
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