[Keats, John]

5 vols., 8vo (8 3/8 x 5 1/4 in.; 212 x 133 mm).  With a few engraved illustrations; scattered foxing and browning.  Half calf, marbled boards; spines renewed in gilt-lettered brown cloth, covers rubbed.

Condition as described in catalogue entry.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

First publication of Keats's celebrated poems "Ode to the Nightengale" and "On a Grecian Urn" (no. 13, p. 354, and no. 15, p. 638) in England's first art journal. Two sonnets on the Elgin Marbles by Keats are also included. A complete run of the 17 issues of the periodical. 

"Sometime early in May, nightingales heard both in Wentworth Place garden and in the grove beside the Spaniards inn at the upper end of the heath set Keats brooding on the contrast between the age-long permanence of that bird-song, older than history, and the fleeting lives of the generations of men that have listened to it …. Haydon tells how Keats recited the new ode to him, 'in his low, tremulous under-tone', as they walked together in the Hampstead meadows; and it was no doubt on Haydon's suggestion that Keats let James Elmes, a subservient ally of Haydon's in all his battles with the academic powers, have it for publication in this periodical, the Annals of the fine Arts, during the following July" (Colvin, John Keats).