Books for the Bookwyrm - The Poetical Works of Lord Byron

It's been awhile. Health issues, deaths, church-hunting, and general "life" have kept me from attacking the shelves as I'd wished. There are still more health issues to tackle, but I have a little time to share my latest heirloom-read.

Last winter I began what I have dubbed my "Eternal Education," based on the Personal Curriculum fad that blew up on Social Media a few years ago. Each quarter I choose a theme to learn about, then curate a reading/study list, complete with art or craft projects, recipes to try, documentaries to watch... anything I can think of to immerse myself in a subject for three months. For my Autumn semester, I have been learning about the Summer of 1816, and the events surrounding & precipitating the famous writing contest at Villa Diodati proposed by Lord Byron... which leads me to my most recent Bookwyrm book; the Poetical Works of Lord Byron. 

This is a Landscape edition by Gall & Inglis. There is no publishing date, but apparently several versions were printed from 1857 through the 1870s. The cover is embossed, with a deeply inset plate. The cover and pages are gilt. each page has an illuminated border, and there are at least 10 different designs repeating throughout. 

James Gall founded a publishing company in 1810, and was later joined by Robert Inglis, to create the Gall & Inglis publishing company. They were based in Edinburgh, and remained a family-run business until closing their doors in the 1970's upon the death of the last living partner; James Morton Gall Inglis.

As mentioned, the pages are smooth, framed in illustrations and punctuated with thicker illustrated pages. The paper is vanillic, and he text remarkably crisp. Running one's fingers over the page, you can still feel the impressions of each letter. The font is small, with prominent serifs, making my reading glasses a must. 

The book starts with a short biography of Lord Byron, dated October, 1857. I found the poems to be a mix of insightful prose, maudlin mental meanderings, and quite a few Victorian macabre narratives. Were it the 1960s, and I a barefoot girl chewing grass stems in the park, I would adore this book. Being much older now and 60 years too late, I found Lord Byron to be... a bit much. It's a prime example of how a "classic" can be simultaneously great, and dated. 

This is another book stamped on the first page, as belonging to W.T. Cole. Wilson Taylor Cole, my Great-Great Grandfather. However, it was not originally his book, but his wife's. It is inscribed: Miss Nellie Fenn from her S.S. Teacher J F.P. Faris Clinton Mo, Christmas1883 "I am the way the truth and the life"

Ellen (Nellie) Knox Fenn was born on 10 June 1863, in Mount Sterling Illinois. She married Wilson Taylor Cole on 2 March 1887, in Palmyra Missouri. I have no anecdotes about my great-great-grandmother, but her death certificate says she was a housewife.

Tucked within the pages, is a single fern frond. Whether it was saved to commemorate a special day, used to mark her place in the book, or simply collected as a pretty leaf, I'll never know. But here it was found, and here it will remain. 

With a little luck, my winter calendar may open up a bit, enabling more frequent posts. Fingers crossed...?