Lot 98: POPE, Alexander (1688-1744). The Rape of the Lock: An heroi-comical poem. In five canto's. London: Bernard Lintott, 1714.

POPE, Alexander (1688-1744). The Rape of the Lock: An heroi-comical poem. In five canto's. London: Bernard Lintott, 1714.

8υo (190 x 114 mm). Title in red and black. Engraved frontispiece and 5 plates by C. du Bosc after Lud. du Guernier. Engraved headpiece, opening initial and tail-piece. (A few leaves or plates possibly supplied.)

[Bound with:]

[POPE, Alexander]. A Key to the Lock by Esdras Barnivelt. London: J. Roberts, 1715. 8υo (190 x 114 mm). Together 2 works in one volume. Modern quarter red morocco, by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Provenance: C. Hyett (contemporary inscription on title to the Rape); Abel E. Berland (bookplate, purchased on 11 February 1969).

FIRST SEPARATE EDITION OF POPE'S MOCK EPIC, AND FIRST EDITION IN FIVE CANTOS, enlarged from 334 to 794 lines, and published in late January 1714. In his dedication to Arabella Fermor, Pope makes the archetypal disclaimer: "The Human Persons are as Fictitious as the Airy ones; and the Character of Belinda, as it is now manag'd, resembles You in nothing but in Beauty." No mention is made of Lord Petre who had died of small-pox on 22 March, 1712-13. Lintott paid Pope 15 for additions, and according to the poet's own correspondence 3000 copies were sold in four days. Speaking before the fourth edition, Pope put sales at "above 6000," and the work established his fame throughout Europe. Second edition of the Key, proving "the dangerous tendency" of the poem, and earning the poet a further 10-15-0 from Lintot. Foxon P941; Griffith 29 and 38.

Property from the Estate of Abel E. Berland

Property from the Estate of Abel E. Berland