Oliver Goldsmith — The Deserted Village

London, Constable and Company Ltd. 1909. Cloth. The first W. Lee Hankey's illustrated edition of Oliver Goldsmith's celebrated poem, The Deserted Village. First Hankey illustrated edition. Illustrated with forty tipped in colour plates. Collated complete, with plate four (facing page 24) detached but present. A poem and work of social commentary denouncing the depopulation of rural areas in the country and the pursuit of excessive wealth. Written in heroic couplets, acting as a narration of the decline of one village as more and more people move to America. Written by Oliver Goldsmith, an Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer who produced literary works in a variety of genres, and is regarded among the most versatile writers of the Georgian era. Illustrated by William Lee Hankey, a British painter and book illustrator. He specialised in landscapes, character studies and portraits of pastoral life. In the original cloth binding with pictorial front board. Externally, smart with light rubbing and minor bumping to the extremities. Light fading to the spine with the odd small mark to the boards. Internally, firmly bound, with plate four (facing page 24) detached but present. Pages are very bright with light scattered spotting, predominantly to the extremities. Good . Ill.: William Lee Hankey. Good .