English Lyrics Various [Shakespeare, William, Donne, John, Wordsworth, William, And More] Literature,Poetry & Drama

[Poetry] FIRST THUS, interesting provenance. Octavo (17 x 11cm), pp.xix [1] 296 [4]. With an original poem lovingly INSCRIBED to a front blank by Scottish writer S.R. Crockett to his future wife Ruth Mary Milner, dated 1883. Contemporary white paper boards, red titles to upper board and spine, publisher's insignia to upper. Top edge gilt, the others untrimmed. Bound by Burn. Title page lettered in red and black. Endpapers lightly toned and spotted, otherwise internally clean. A couple of light pencil annotations to preliminaries. Light toning and dulling to textblock edges. Moderate toning and rubbing to boards. Very good. S.R. Crockett (1859-1914) was a contemporary of J.M. Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson. He married Ruth Milner in 1887, four years after giving her this Christmas gift - his careful inscription making clear that their romance was already in full bloom, especially as he ends the poem: 'but joy I'll take in this pleasure more sweet than all, if thou this book but kisse as love's memoriall.'.