Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley. Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue; With Other Poems. London: C. H. Reynell for C. and J. Ollier, 1819.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was a major figure among the English Romantic poets, known for his radical politics, unconventional lifestyle, and tragic death.  In Rosalind and Helen, Shelley ominously projects himself onto the figure of poet-reformer Lionel, who is jailed for his political activities and dies at a young age, soon after his release.

This copy was bound by the famed London firm Sangorski and Sutcliffe, and features an oval ivory miniature portrait of Shelley set inside the front cover.