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DE QUINCEY, Thomas (1785-1859). Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. London: by J. Moyes for Taylor and Hessey, 1822.
12o (177 x 108 mm). Half-title, 2-page publisher's advertisements at end. ("Notice to the Reader" leaf reattached on tab, some pale spotting on title.) Original boards, uncut (rebacked, preserving most of original spine and paper spine label); morocco pull-off case. Provenance: Thomas Clarke (contemporary ownership inscription on half-title; armorial bookplate) -- purchased from H. M. Fletcher, London, 27 June 1972.
FIRST EDITION in book form of "the most famous account of drug addiction in English literature" (Norman). De Quincey's narrative was originally published in the London Magazine in October and November 1821. To the editions in book form De Quincey added an appendix which included a record of his opium consumption. Surpassing mere scientific reportage, the Confessions is a stylistic masterpiece and a prose counterpart to the work of De Quincey's close associates Wordsworth and Coleridge. Ashley II, p.37; Norman 619; Sterling 229; Tinker 817.
12o (177 x 108 mm). Half-title, 2-page publisher's advertisements at end. ("Notice to the Reader" leaf reattached on tab, some pale spotting on title.) Original boards, uncut (rebacked, preserving most of original spine and paper spine label); morocco pull-off case. Provenance: Thomas Clarke (contemporary ownership inscription on half-title; armorial bookplate) -- purchased from H. M. Fletcher, London, 27 June 1972.
FIRST EDITION in book form of "the most famous account of drug addiction in English literature" (Norman). De Quincey's narrative was originally published in the London Magazine in October and November 1821. To the editions in book form De Quincey added an appendix which included a record of his opium consumption. Surpassing mere scientific reportage, the Confessions is a stylistic masterpiece and a prose counterpart to the work of De Quincey's close associates Wordsworth and Coleridge. Ashley II, p.37; Norman 619; Sterling 229; Tinker 817.