"The
Springtide of Life" (1918)
Illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Gosse's
collection of Swinburne's work was drawn from four volumes of his poetry:
the second series of "Poems and Ballads"; "Tristram of
Lyonesse and Other
Poems"; "A Century of Roundels"; and "Poems and Ballads".
In that Preface, Gosse also made comment on Rackham's involvement in the publication thus:
One reason why Swinburne never brought out such a collection
was his failure to find an
artist who could interpret to his satisfaction the simplicity
and freshness of his verses. We
are fortunate in having secured, in Mr Arthur Rackham, one
whose delicate and romantic
fancy is in sensitive harmony with Swinburne's, and who
understands, no less than he did,
how "Heaven lies about us in our infancy".
Gosse, himself, was an English poet, author and critic who
was a friend of Swinburne and other poets and authors, including Robert
Browning,
Thomas Hardy, Henry James and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Such
was the esteem in which he was held that he was the librarian to the House of Lords for a decade prior to his retirement in 1914.
As a friend of
Swinburne and one of the most well-regarded literary critics of his age,
Gosse was well-suited to introducing the selection of
Swinburne's work and
providing comment on
Rackham's illustrations.
He had been so taken by the illustrations
for "The Springtide of Life" (1918) that he
wrote to Rackham personally saying:
This volume will not merely be the best book of the
present art-season, but a joy to all
sensitive people for years and years to come.
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On the left, we show a rare copy of Edmund Gosse's
collection of Swinburne's
poetry - "The Springtide of Life" - illustrated by Rackham and published by
William Heinemann (London) in 1918.
This example retains the original
decoratively gilt-stamped green cloth cover.
To the right, we show the decorated Title Page
designed by Arthur Rackham.
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