Gordon Bottomley — The Crier by Night: A Play in One Act

London, At the Unicorn, 1902. First edition. Hardback. The very scarce first edition of this one-act play by English poet Gordon Bottomley, a Unicorn Press publication. First edition, published by the Unicorn Press or 'At the Sign of the Unicorn&apos. Very scarce.Later published within a collection of Bottomley's plays in 1915 and 1920 by Small, Maynard and Co. (Boston) and Constable & Company (London), copies of which are scarce. In the original quarter cloth, with paper covered boards. From English poet Gordon Bottomley, noted for his verse dramas and for influences including the later Victorian Romantic poets, the Pre-Raphaelites and William Morris.The Crier by Night sees the ghost of bogle of Claife Heights, Windemere - the so-called Claife Crier - used to resolve the conflict between a cruel farmers-wife and a serving maid. An example of Bottomley's environmentalism through his close grounding of plays in geographical locations. The Unicorn Press was a publisher particularly active during the 1890s "Nineties" scene, located at Cecil Court, London, notable for publishing The Dome (1897–1900), a literary magazine that featured art and literature. In the original quarter cloth, with paper covered boards. Externally, smart, with handling marks and slight rubbing to the extremities. Discolouration to the spine. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are generally bright and clean, with occasional spots, heaviest to the endpapers. Contemporary ink inscription to the front free endpaper. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good .