Moore, Thomas

4to (11 x 8 1/4 in.; 280 x 210 mm). Engraved additional title-page and 5 engraved plates by Charles Heath after Richard Westphall; additional title-page and plates foxed, some offsetting, occasional light color discoloration.  Contemporary English olive straight-grained morocco by Dawson & Lewis, richly paneled gilt, border of interlaced fillets enclosing a frame of lyres and foliate scrolls, pointillé ground cartouche stamped with a wreathed lyre at center, the spine in 5 compartments with interlaced fillets and wide raised bands, dentelles tooled in gilt and blind, pointillé corners forming a succession of circles in the center, intersperced by 4 interlaced filleted stretchers, crimson paper doublures and flyleaves, edges gilt and gauffered with an oriental floral motif; joints lightly rubbed, spine a bit darkened. Morocco-tipped slipcase. 

Countess of Bessborough (engraved monogram bookplate) — Robert Hoe (morocco ticket on doublure) — Cortlandt F. Bishop (morocco tickets; sold American Art Association/Anderson Galleries, 25–27 April 1938, lot 1571) — Mrs. J. Insley Blair (morocco ticket on doublure; sold Sotheby's New York, 3 December 2004, lot 211)

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 edition, in a fine English binding.  The Robert Hoe—Cortlandt F. Bishop copy. James Perry, a good friend of Moore's and proprietor of the Morning Chronicle (the leading Whig journal of the day) and Longmans paid Moore £3000 for a poem "upon some Oriental subject, and of those Quarto dimensions which Scott … had rendered the regular poetical standard." The resulting poem consists of four romances told to the beautiful Lalla Rookh as she and her bridal party make their procession from Delhi to Cashmere.  The work went through twenty editions as well as numerous translations by 1840 (Jack, English Literature, vol. 2, pp. 166-67)